All Forum Posts by: Brandon Pelfrey

@Larrian Davis - welcome to BP and (soon) to Boise! My wife and I are house-hacking a duplex that we bought at the beginning of this year and are trying to renovate it (while living in it during a pandemic with 3 kids age 5 and under, haha!). It would be great to connect and share the experience the we've had thus far. I agree with the statements above that house-hacking is a great strategy to get into real estate, and the earlier in life you can do it the better!

Also, the snow isn't too bad here. It does get cold from time-to-time, but compared to other places in the region the winters are very mild. You'll definitely get used to driving in the snow!

Hi @Thomas Larsen! I'm currently using an FHA loan to do a house-hack on a duplex here in Boise and doing a live-in flip of it as well. I'd be more than happy to connect to share the experience we've had and talk about RE investing in Boise/Idaho, let me know if you'd like to chat!

Hey @Mark Anderson - I too am a multi-family investor (newbie, albeit) here in Boise. Love talking shop and talking about what's going in Boise/real estate in general, let's connect! I'll PM you

@Bonnie Low I myself grew up in the Seattle area so I, too, am technically a transplant here!

@Bonnie Low yes that type of attitude directed at those moving in from out of state is not kind or productive. I wish people would just try to understand and accept the fact that things change rather than get nasty about it.

@Jon Schwartz agreed the fact that "The Great California Exodus" is even a thing that people talk about definitely throws some unnecessary and misunderstood shade on the state. And as Bonnie mentioned, it creates negative feelings towards Californians. We have however actually seen massive population growth in places like ID, and people from CA, Seattle, Portland, and places on the east coast account for a lot of that growth. I also think some of the natural bi-products that come along with living in a super populated place like that actually do correlate with the population growth we've seen here. All in all though, I'm totally with you that we should seek to understand the issue rather than make rash assumptions based off of things we've heard.

Hi @Nathan Schiess - I'm sending you a DM about this!

@Brantley Brooks

Hi @Jon Schwartz - I've seen you comment a few times on similar posts and I think you bring up some great points that people should keep in mind (particularly that CA holds a large portion of the US popultation and the population there is actually growing despite those who are leaving). However, I think there are a few things that should be pointed out.

Yes, CA is huge and it's not like everyone from the state is moving out - but there are still A TON of Californians leaving. While those of you who are staying put in CA may not notice much of a change, those of us that live in Boise and other nearby smaller markets certainly see a measurable difference. And it's not just anecdotal that there are lots of Californians moving to the Boise area (and other places in Idaho), there's plenty of data that backs that claim up (and that says it's not just CA, we're getting lots of people moving in from the Seattle and Portland areas as well). It's definitely changing the area, and not just from an investment perspective - so people are going to feel it and talk about it. And I don't see this ending anytime soon. As long as people feel that CA is overpopulated/crowded, restrictive, dangerous, or whatever reason people have for leaving, and as long people feel that they can have a higher quality of life that works for them in Boise, Spokane, Coeur d'Alene, AZ, LV, TX, etc. then we're going to continue to see these markets have a large influx of California transplants.

And just so you aren't getting me wrong, this is not a knock on CA (I've lived there for a couple years before and loved it - beaches, Disneyland, cool cities, mountains, sunsets, redwood forests, it's amazing and I can see why so many people live there!), and it's not a knock on people moving here from CA (they're great people and the growth they bring has a lot of positive impacts on the area) - it's just my 2 cents on the issue.

@Shannon Robnett very good analysis of the current situation, and those questions are some of the very questions I've been wondering about. Curious to hear what the seasoned investors strategy is right now and how they'll answer your post.

Hi @Sara Simpson I think you bring up some good points/questions that lots of us have been thinking of as well. The points above that really resonated with me were a) price is a lagging by-product of the whole supply/demand system, and b) with stimulus money and how long it can take for us actually see change in the market the effects of COVID on the housing market are likely still coming down the pipe.

Another thought that I've had over the past few months is that people seem to be expecting more or less the same type of thing to happen to the housing market that happened in 2008/2009. While we may see a good recession from everything that's happened since March, I think we shouldn't expect a repeat of our last housing crash. Not saying that it will be necessarily better or worse than that, but it will be different because it's a completely different issue with completely different causes. The crash of 2008 was brought on because of the flaws within the housing market, whereas what we're facing right now is being brought on largely because no one left their house for months on end and it has disrupted our entire economy.

I'm with you though - hoping this creates opportunity and that I can see it when it comes. Thanks for the post!

Hi @Brandon Courtney - I grew up in the Seattle area and have lived in Idaho since 2009, and I'm currently "house-hacking" a duplex here in Boise. Love both areas, would be more than happy to connect and chat about both areas/real estate here. Let me know if you would like to connect!