All Forum Posts by: Ben Biggs

@Kaleb Ahonen!! Didn't know you were also a BP fan. We definitely have to chat, I've been in to BP since 2014! 

Hi @Lisa Martin, hmmm my first thought IS a reverse mortgage. I have a couple good connections in that space. An ADU would be tricky here, it would mostly benefit the longer living family member as they do take time to build. Up to a year to start seeing cash flow coming in. But they pencil out nicely as it's much cheaper to build per square foot than buy new. Another idea would be to sell their current home, get some equity out and purchase a much cheaper 55+ only community residence and transfer their property tax basis using proposition 60. So they could keep their current tax obligation, if it made sense. Best of luck and I am here to brainstorm more if needed!

@Jonah Slove Have you guys considered taking it up to market rent? If she owns it outright, then that will just go straight to your bottom line, since you want more cashflow. If you want to sell it then the new owner will likely take it to market rent or just evict current tenants. A 1031 could be a decent alternative. Make sure you use a good intermediary. I have used several here in SD. Make sure wherever you 1031 to will be able to provide a good rental pool, you want people who can support higher rents. It's a catch-22, higher rent areas = higher price point. But there are deals to be had. 

@Allen Ramirez Man, O' Man! Welcome! Real Estate investing is "rabbit hole" city. It's exciting, fun, challenging, and stressful at times. But it's worth it. I like your idea of investing in Crestline, an area which you are familiar with. It's not too far, so you can keep tabs physically. Also, I would venture to say you DO have a real estate investment. You purchased a lot, which is more than most people! Keep pushing forward. And yes, we DO pay way too much just to live here in SD. 

Welcome, @Stephen Michels! Excited for your journey! Sounds like you are ready to begin... when you know, you know! 

@Faraz K.

Welcome to the adventure!

Both high ROI & monthly passive income will be hard to find. Typically you will have one or the other. San Diego is a high appreciation market that is very hard to cash-flow. Of course the more you put down the lower your payment, the higher your cash flows. But that will hurt your Cash on Cash return.

My advice is as follows:

1. Start running numbers on as many deals as possible when you have time. Start to see what areas and what types of properties are going to get you closer your goals. Here in San Diego go East. El Cajon, Lakeside, Jamul, Rancho San Diego, Etc. The farther away from the coast the more the price goes down. However if it is still in San Diego county you should see high occupancy rates.

2. Look at other areas you know well and run the numbers. Find an investor friendly agent (not a bunch, agents like loyalty and will work harder for you if they know they have a better shot of getting your business.)

3. Stop thinking and start doing. Buy something. ASAP. Pick a direction and go full steam ahead. If you listen to the podcasts, all the big guys say the same thing. Beware of opportunity cost. Learn as you go. Doing your research is good, but Analysis Paralysis is not going to help. It took me about a year from when I first got bit by the real estate bug to when I purchased my first property. And I was active duty Navy at the time on deployment with almost zero downtown. Sneaking forum sessions and podcasts in while i was working.

Hope this helps!

@Henry Lin

I highly recommend MFI works. They are a San Diego based tax firm that specializes in small business owners, especially people in the Real Estate industry. They do my personal and business taxes and I have referred them around. Let them know I sent you.

Start by filling out their consultation form on their website.
https://mfiworks.com/

@Nicholas Coulter

So it sounds like the seller already has terms laid out? If you guys are on the same page as far as terms go, it's just a matter of drawing up the contract and including the seller financing addendum (SFA) that you have in your CAR forms. Once this is all signed you open escrow and the transaction proceeds as per the contract timelines. The only difference is that when you close escrow will hold your note and arrange for payments to happen etc. Not all escrows do seller financing and it's not necessary, I believe, to use an escrow company but when I have helped clients with seller financing we did it with everything else in place just like a normal deal, with Escrow, TC's, Title, etc. 

Looking forward to it! 

@Steven Cook

1. Flyer drop the day before you door knock so people can see your face/message.

2. Combine door knocking/flyering with geo-targeted social media ads.

3. Consistency. Door knock one given area on a set schedule every week for 6 months before you evaluate it's success.