All Forum Posts by: Bobby Nilsen

@Sally Pearson Focus on one type of property and start searching for that property everyday. Get comfortable with your number and get ready to write offers. Start getting a feel for what’s a deal, a steal, and unreal in your market. On a deal I’d run the numbers and see if I could get a decent offer accepted. For a steal I’d write the offer with a contingency and then run the numbers to make sure nothing was missed and if it really is a steal of a deal. These deals I need to move quick or make happen quick because they’ll disappear fast. These days I can offer on an unrealistic seller and get them into a realistic price range. Just did a deal that the seller wanted 4.7m and got it for 3m, it’s one of the few for the year that’ll hit that number but it’s possible and we know our market like the back of our hand.

To sum it up know your market better than the agents when they say let me run some comps for you, you should be able to say these are the comps how about you run them now and see what we come up with. Or tell them to write the offer here and let’s tie it up, always leave yourself a contingency for any issues and due diligence. 

Has anyone had any experience using McMann Commercial Lending. Currently looking at potentially using them for a $2m loan/beloc on an 8 unit building. Any insight would be helpful. Thanks. 

@Malik Rasheed Work on finding deals. It’s tough right now to turn an ok deal into something. At the beginning of the year you could have a so so deal and it would be easy to wholesale now that same deal, good luck. But if you get a really good deal it will sell and you won’t have to worry about having no buyers they will come out with a post on a local or investing group on Facebook or a post on craigslist. 

The biggest thing is getting these properties at a discount compared to the comps within a month, try not to go further back for comps. Here in CA prices have been hit about 20% in some paces and will probably get hit a little more. 

Moral of the post is get the property and buyers will come. Don’t put the cart before the horse. 

@Danny Jimenez Contingencies are usually standard in real estate contracts, meaning unless the contract is changed there will be a contingency, in California CAR contract if we change nothing there’s contingencies in the 15+ day range for loan, appraisal and inspection. We always go in with at least a day because that’s the time we need. Find out how much time you need and go from there. I wouldn’t make a verbal and do inspections based off of that. Next thing you know they accept a different offer and you are SOL. The verbal is just to give you an idea if it’s worth writing, this is something we do in the CA market. This market is changing but the shorter the better always makes the offer stronger. If we need to extend the contingency when we get to the deadline we ask for that or a price reduction to justify removing the contingencies, if neither gets accepted we cancel and move on to the next property.  

Don’t overanalyze what you’re doing. Start going down the road and chatting with your agent and this will start to come together and make sense. Always err on your side of comfortability and don’t let an agent talk you into doing something you don’t want to do. Write a ton of offers before getting one accepted. Familiarize yourself with the contract so you know what your signing and getting yourself into. 

@Danny Jimenez

The contingencies are usually boiler plate in most contracts, the length is just determined for each. But before presenting a formal contract I usually make a verbal offer with these items below. The answer to the verbal usually gives us a great idea if and how we should formally write. We always go in with at least a day contingency so we can at a minimum walk the property to make sure there are no red flags. And worst case we can then renegotiate the contingency or price to make it work. 

Price

Contingencies

Length of close 

@Liam Kingon Not in a specific order. There are too many to list and everyone has a great real estate book, they’re all good but at some point you’ll need more than just real estate and motivation.only have one real estate book as it was the first one I read and got me motivated, really most real estate books are good but not great, got much more from non real estate books and applied them to real estate. 

The ABC’s of real estate investing 

4-hour work week 

The Medici effect 

Better decisions fewer regrets 

Never split the difference 

Anger 

Most real estate books share the same stuff, for sure read as many as possible but these and many other books will help with all the other non direct real estate knowledge. Real estate knowledge is easy but how can you set yourself apart from the thousands of others who have read all the real estate books by thinking a little differently. That’s reading the non real estate books and applying it to real estate.  

@Matt Fabian  Those numbers sound decent to me. Not a home run but not every deal will be. At a basic level in 30yrs you are going to look like a genius and everyone will be saying I wish I would have bought when you did. What could you resell the building for immediately is a great way to analyze it as well? The market is taking a dip and if you can sell it for a profit immediately you did well. 

Another way to look at this is the opportunity that you will have in a few years to trade up and keep that money growing. Keeping it in stocks you could get lucky and get one that explodes and then we will all be saying wish we would have bought that one. That happens much less than people saying wish I would have bought real estate 10, 20, 30 yrs ago. Real estate you’ll get the appreciation, your $24k cash flow, but also you’ll have about $25k, however the terms are structured, or so in principal pay down per year.

I’d be happy with the money sitting in the stock market but super stoked to have that money in real estate. 

Always up to chat about it over the phone. PM me if you want. 

@Sharon S. Research your properties rent ordinance and find out whether or not you fall under a local or state rent ordinance. There are many nuances which only you know that change your scenario, familiarize yourself with the rent ordinance, read it over and over and you will most likely get much better answers than on here. If you don’t want to read it call an attorney and they may be able to help. Being a landlord I would highly suggest you familiarize yourself with the rent ordnances for the state and all localities in which you own rentals. California can be a horrible place to own if you don’t know the rent control regulations like the back of your hand and even knowing it it can still be a nightmare. Best of luck. 

@Laleh Omaraie On the cover this deal doesn’t look like one I would purchase. Step back take a breather and rerun your analysis but don’t get paralysis. Would also highly suggest you find a mentor/someone else you can chat with about real estate that is an airbnb expert in your area. Asking on here is great but as you can see you are getting answers from all over there may be some nuances we don’t know about that you may not know about that change the numbers completely. You should also reach out to a management company as they will give numbers, usually best case scenario, but that will help in seeing what actual numbers are. You don’t have to use them but they are the experts and can provide valuable insight on your questions. 

It seems the data is being looked at in a best case scenario you make money? We always try to buy with conservative numbers putting us in the black. Unless our numbers pencil in a bad case scenario we won't buy. Seeing someone's T12 will give you the most accurate numbers compared to all those programs, but getting that may be tough. Again a management company may share some of this info, but remember they're trying to win your business.

Not 100% sure about your market but ours is going down, we are not in a rush to get into a deal that made sense a month ago. Properties aren’t moving as quick so we offer a price to make it work for us and if it doesn’t work onto the next one. Don’t think this is your personal residence so don’t let emotions get involved and buy based on the numbers. If the numbers don’t work, diving much deeper doesn’t really matter. 

Best of luck.