All Forum Posts by: Brendan Winans

I agree with the points made above. Bakersfield is a great CA city to invest in, as it has a low barrier to entry. I invest in Bakersfield personally, and have friends who have invested as well. Please let me know if there are any questions I can help answer. 

Great job, @Scott L. Schroeder! I'd love to hear more about the deal. Also, if at any point you have questions, or just want to bounce some ideas off of someone who's active in the market, don't hesitate to reach out!

@Jose Solis I live/work/invest in Bakersfield as well! I'd be happy to share some of my experiences. Feel free to reach out. 

@Shravan Majithia, it's definitely possible to cashflow, and I'd love the opportunity to talk more about it. Please feel free to connect. I can, without a doubt, help you with everything you mentioned. Have a great rest of your weekend. 

Be well,

Brendan

Zul, evictions are not as simple as they were pre-pandemic, so this is a great question for an attorney (I am not one). There are additional steps that have to be taken to evict someone who is behind on rent. That said, we've still been able to vacate properties for unit remodeling. The cost is the real nightmare story... Average cost for evictions has gone from $600 to $2,500, with no guarantees.

Erin, we're in Bakersfield, and we'd love the opportunity to help you! We've been able to help a lot of people that we've met through BP. Let us know your timeline, and if there's anything we can do to help bolster your game plan!

@Peter Eberhardt inflation is clearly playing a role. However, to what extent, I can't say definitively. I think there are a number of dynamics currently at play. A lot of the buyer's I've worked with have been people moving from more expensive cities, citing affordability and the ability to work remotely as their motivating factors. @Gene Hacker is absolutely right with regards to the level at which Bakersfield depends on the oil industry. The local economy has certainly diversified in the last decade. Nevertheless, I believe oil is going to continue its run until it's addressed at a political level. If/when interest rates go up, I would expect to see the market slow to a more "normal" pace, and pricing to stabilize. However, until then, demand will continue to drive pricing up until pools of buyers get "priced out" of the market.

@Gene Hacker interesting times indeed. New construction has yet to be able to keep pace with demand. I'd love to see some changes to the plan approval process to allow construction starts to speed up (without compromising quality, of course).

Bakersfield, population 377,917 (2019) and growing.

For as long as I’ve been working here (since 2010), Bakersfield has been extremely popular with investors. Whether one is looking to flip, or aspires to build a portfolio of rentals, Bakersfield’s dynamics are ideal for meeting one’s goals. For example, 25% percent of households in Bakersfield, CA. are renting their home (per RENTcafé). With a massive pool of renters constantly churning, demand for rentals has consistantly been high, and continues to squeeze higher. Although values are up significantly from last year (see info. below), Bakersfield remains one of the more affordable cities in California. This has buyers, as well as renters, flocking to Bakersfield in droves. 

Enough chit-chat, let’s look at the data.

Current year-to-date (Jan. 1, 2021 to May 31, 2021) sales are at 2,980, which is up 33% from the same timeframe in 2020.

Price per square foot for the current year to date is sitting at $176, up 15.8% from the same timeframe in 2020.

Note: In May 2021 the price per square foot is at $186, up 21.6% from May 2020.

The average days on market for the current year to date is just 21 days, which is down 36.4% from the same timeframe last year.

The average sold price for the current year to date is $326K which is up a whopping 19% from the same timeframe last year!

At our current burn rate, the remaining months of inventory sits at just 0.6, down a mind-blowing 65.6% from this time last year.

With no end in sight (currently), Bakersfield is expected to see double-digit percentage gains in value over the next year. 

What are you seeing in your area?

-Brendan 

*All reports are published May 2021, based on data available at the end of April 2021, except for the today’s stats. All reports presented are based on data supplied by the Bakersfield MLS. Neither the Association nor its MLS guarantees or is in anyway responsible for its accuracy. Data maintained by the Association or its MLS may not reflect all real estate activities in the market. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.