All Forum Posts by: Benjamin Winokur

Welcome @Shani Levi! Congratulations on taking your first few steps into the world of RE investing! I'm local in Thousand Oaks as well, there's quite a budding group here locally that is starting to take hold. My wife and I started out investing out-of-state as the cash required to get started was much lower, and we've stayed out-of-state because the returns are fantastic. Feel free to drop a line anytime, I'm happy to try and answer any questions that come up or provide references for resources you may need (lenders, agents, property managers, etc).

@James R. Copeland Check out loopnet as well, sometimes there are some gems that get listed commercially rather than on the residential MLS.

Pretty much anywhere in Ventura County is going to be commuting distance to Oxnard, it's relatively centrally located in the area. I've lived in Santa Barbara (about 40 minutes north), Camarillo, Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks (currently), all are easily commutable. 

Good luck, it's a beautiful area here but it is damn expensive. We're seeing the market soften a bit the last few months, so you may see prices start to come down some more as we head further into 2019. 

Feel free to hit me up anytime, I'm happy to help. 

Welcome @Christina Ortega!

Where in Ventura County are you based? I'm based out of Thousand Oaks, and all my investing is done out-of-state. Feel free to drop a line anytime. 

Best,

Getting a college degree is something that has been a matter of great debate these last few years; I've seen success from those who have one, and just as often as those who don't. If you have the drive and ability to succeed, you will. Take everyones comments telling you "great decision" or "beg for your spot back" with a grain of salt, you're the only one who can make the decision you did. You never know what would have/could have happened if you had made a different decisions, but guess what? If this doesn't work out, you can always go back to school. I did, and while it helped me get a job when I didn't know what I wanted to be doing on my own, my degree contributes zero to my either my current full-time job nor my real estate investing. 

Some (hopefully) helpful ideas:

• Familiarize yourself deeply with your community-Get to know your neighborhoods, styles of homes, housing tracts, and the people that live there. Attend local events, farmers markets, just be around and be a visible part of the community. Volunteering is a great way to network while also doing good for your community.
• Social Media Presence- I cannot stress this enough. Your personal brand is your livelihood, build it by creating content and sharing it with your community. I won't go in depth here because I would still be typing in 12 hours. There are some amazing free resources from folks that you can emulate if you need to get started. Follow Ryan Serhant and Gary Vaynerchuck. 
• Build up an understanding of traditional real estate marketing, techniques, and resources.
• Continually build your business acumen. There are ton's of amazing resources out there, many of them are free or low-cost. Audio, video, and books.
• Find a good broker, ask around about who is good to work for, who is taking new agents, and if you have any friends or acquaintances that are agents inquire about their agency.
• Offer to hold open houses for other agents- gets your feet wet talking to real potential buyers. You'll become more familiar with the different nomenclatures and build confidence. You'll also improve your understanding of your local market, pricing, what people are looking for, etc. 
• Take advantage of any free training your broker offers that covers topics you aren't 100% confident on. Then, keep up with your ongoing training to stay up-to-date and refresh yourself from time to time. 
• Learn new things, expand your toolkit
• Know yourself well enough to focus on the strategies that work best for you. 

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but should help you on your journey forward. To your success!

Best,

Househacking is a great way to get started; that said, it's very difficult to find Multi-Unit properties here in VC, especially one that is in decent condition and at a sales price that makes sense. They do pop up occasionally, but you'll often be competing with cash buyers with deep pockets. 

I'd recommend looking into some real estate-adjacent opportunities. Some mentioned already such as loaning that money to an experienced professional to do a rehab or something similar. You should definitely read up on notes and being the bank, or explore out of state buy and hold opportunities. 

Feel free to message me with any questions on the area or anything I mentioned, I'm happy to help if I can. 

I've been using turn-key properties in the Quad-Cities area over the past few years getting solid returns thanks to having a great team I can work with there who assists me in locating properties, walk-through inspections, and property management. With my full-time regular job, I can't imagine trying to do this any other way to build passive rental income. 

Feel free to message me if you're interested in being put in touch with the team I work with. 

Looking for lender recommendations on a Cash Out Refi for a rental I own outright in Burlington, IA. Property is coming up on 1 year of seasoning and I'd like to pull some cash out of it and use that as the down to pickup another turn-key property. Any recommendations, please feel free to message me directly. 

Cheers!

Ben

Hi @Justin R. I'm in Simi Valley. Shoot me a PM and let's discuss what you're looking for. I work out of the Berkshire Hathaway office in Thousand Oaks. Also, I'm hosting an Open House this weekend in Newbury Park if you want to drop by and chat while I'm in your neighborhood. 

Happy to help out any way I can. 

Cheers!

Benjamin

Welcome!

Looking forward to meeting you at an upcoming meeting.