All Forum Posts by: Ben Booker

Hi @Jay Dimacali. Good question on the market correction. Probably the biggest reason that I think my market has a market correction coming due (at least is my area) is that values have now reached/exceeded the pre-recession levels. Based on my search of the area (and inquiry with my real estate agent), there are very few houses/condos on the market compared to PYs and that scarcity is driving prices upward at a rate that does not seem probable to last more than a couple/a few years. So it makes sense to me to take my equity to another market at a time when it is good to sell in CA to a place that I'll get more value for my money.

I agree with you, my appreciation above the cost basis is currently not "significant" and will get eaten up in transaction fees. I'll still take a little gain though, with a lot of realized equity due to excellerated mortgage payments, rather than selling later for less than I bought plus the transaction fees.

Hi @David Faulkner. Thanks for the advice. I definitely want to rent in the new market for a couple of months and get connected with a local RE network. Good point on being careful about definitions. I was thinking of "affordable" and "expensive" in terms of cost of living. For instance, I am an auditor (CPA), and the mean salary for the L.A. metro area is $82,780 for May 2016 and the mean salary for the Minneapolis metro area is $72,550 for May 2016 (according to the Bureau of Labor Stats). This is an approx. decrease of 12%. The mean housing prices for the same areas are $617k and $345k. This is an approx. decrease of 44%. This is the sense in which I meant less expenses/more affordable.

On the equity note, it may not be "significant," however, I would rather the selling costs come out of the appreciation, rather than having no appreciation (or depreciation), yet still having to pay those fees.

As far as refinancing the equity out, but keeping the CA property as a future rental, I don't think I would want to manage from a far, even though I agree that CA real estate could have great long term appreciation and consistent occupency (in my area for the foreseeable future).

Thanks again for the replies everyone. I think I am going to hang in there for a few more months before I move. Once I move, I think I will rent for a few months and narrow down some multi-family house hack prospects.

Thank you all for the replies. Dowe in San Diego for a vacation weekend, so I'll digest now and respond later. 

Hi Everyone,

Situation: Right now I am working in the San Fernando Valley (just north of Los Angeles) and living in Santa Clarita Valley (just north of San Fernando Valley). I own a 2b2b condo in Santa Clarita which I bought in 2015 for $226k. Right now, Zillow, Trulia, and Redfin have my condo estimated at $261k (the average of the three sites).

Question: The market is very hot in this area and I anticipate a market correction coming soon. I would like to capture the equity in my home before a market correction. I am anticipating only living in the Santa Clarita area for one more year (planning on moving to a market with much lower cost of living - i.e. arbitrage-ish killing on selling my appreciated Santa Clarita house in super inflated market and using that to start my first real estate investments in less inflated-more affordable market). Any recommendations on an exist strategies for capturing the appreciation an reinvesting for a short term period before I move? The options that came to mind (in order of most preferred to least) was watching the market close and not selling unless apparent that market was heading down, buying a flip that I could sell in a year if the market continued to climb, or I could gain some profit/break even if market stayed flat, or cash flow instead of flip if there was a precipitous market fall and manage from a distance. Any creative ideas that I haven't mentioned?

Let me know if you have any follow up questions.

Thank you,

P.S. No experience flipping or property management (learning and preparing though).

Hi @Kim Younkin,

Thank you for the heads up. I'll have to look up Daniel and check out that meetup.

Thank you,

Ben 

Hi everyone. My name is Ben. New to the site. I am interested in buying rental properties, holding long-term, focusing on cash-flow, and building a portfolio. I am looking into the area just south of Lake Minnetonka and just west of Minneapolis. I am currently a CPA (auditor) in the Los Angeles area.

I've been listening to a lot of the podcasts. Most recently, I listened to episode #61. This was a good episode and pretty funny discussion of Brandon's "Waldo" purchase (will be laughing about that discussion for a while).

Looking forward to getting to know you all.

Ben