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All Forum Posts by: Brian Garlington

Brian Garlington has started 31 posts and replied 2239 times.

Post: HELP - the appraisal company gave me a super low-ball appraisal

Brian GarlingtonPosted
  • Realtor
  • Oakland, CA and a Real Estate Investor with Multi-Family Units and a Self Storage Facility
  • Posts 2,350
  • Votes 2,389

As others said, with how fast properties are still going up in value it worked out for you.

Post: [Possible Stupid Question] Renting the house vs renting rooms

Brian GarlingtonPosted
  • Realtor
  • Oakland, CA and a Real Estate Investor with Multi-Family Units and a Self Storage Facility
  • Posts 2,350
  • Votes 2,389
Quote from @Theresa Harris:

Homes in some areas won't cash flow.  The price of the home and the rent alone make it impossible.  Have you thought about working with a realtor who works with investors?  Renting by the room usually will bring in more, but there can be more problems as you may have conflicts with roommate that you get dragged into. Use whichever estimate matches what you are planning on doing with the home.


 I agree with this wholeheartedly. (Almost) every realtor will (lie and) tell you that they work with investors all the time. I always tell prospective buyers that are interviewing me, "Ask your realtor to tell you about the last 3 investment properties that they have purchased, and the last 3 investment properties they have helped people acquire. The way they answer those questions will tell you everything you need to know.

Post: [Newbie] SF Bay Area Resident and Aspiring Real Estate Investor

Brian GarlingtonPosted
  • Realtor
  • Oakland, CA and a Real Estate Investor with Multi-Family Units and a Self Storage Facility
  • Posts 2,350
  • Votes 2,389
Quote from @Mitchell Sanedrin:

Hello all!

I've been a long time listener to the BP podcast, and decided to create an account! 

I live in the SF Bay Area, and work in the recruiting space for a tech start-up. I've been wanting to invest in real estate (buy&hold) with a focus on SFR's, and am finally ready (at least I think lol) to take the leap.

I've been running the numbers in my area, as well as, some "outer cities" (Sacramento, Fresno, etc.) and have been holding back on some of the properties I've analyzed because of the "negative cash flow" that was calculated. I've been toying with the idea of investing out-of-state (Nevada, Oregon, Arizona), but am thinking I would rather have something a bit more close by especially for my first investment property to reduce the probable headache. 

Keeping my fingers crossed that I'll be able to find a "good deal" (in the words of Brandon Turner my $2.50 milk SALE)


If any of you are free I'd love to connect to talk about your journey!


Thanks for reading!


 Welcome aboard!

Post: Sell or Rent my primary residence?

Brian GarlingtonPosted
  • Realtor
  • Oakland, CA and a Real Estate Investor with Multi-Family Units and a Self Storage Facility
  • Posts 2,350
  • Votes 2,389

Refi,....pull cash out.....convert the residence into a rental.........

Repeat.

Post: Remote Investing in 2-4 units in Milwaukee. Need to build a team.

Brian GarlingtonPosted
  • Realtor
  • Oakland, CA and a Real Estate Investor with Multi-Family Units and a Self Storage Facility
  • Posts 2,350
  • Votes 2,389

Milwaukee is a great market for distance investing and cash flow.

Post: Self Storage Facility

Brian GarlingtonPosted
  • Realtor
  • Oakland, CA and a Real Estate Investor with Multi-Family Units and a Self Storage Facility
  • Posts 2,350
  • Votes 2,389

Investment Info:

Other commercial investment investment.

Purchase price: $7,290,144

Self Storage Facility, Participated as a Limited Partner in the real estate syndication.

Post: New Agent - Should I Americanize My Name?

Brian GarlingtonPosted
  • Realtor
  • Oakland, CA and a Real Estate Investor with Multi-Family Units and a Self Storage Facility
  • Posts 2,350
  • Votes 2,389

Stay true to yourself. Do not "Americanize" your name.

Post: REO (real estate owned) property where the previous owner live in

Brian GarlingtonPosted
  • Realtor
  • Oakland, CA and a Real Estate Investor with Multi-Family Units and a Self Storage Facility
  • Posts 2,350
  • Votes 2,389
Quote from @Dong Eun Kim:

Hi, 

I found a property with a great potential in a very nice location in Berkeley, CA. The property is on the market for 2 months. After getting disclosure, I found that it is REO where an old lady, previous owner refuses to leave the house. The bank got the house in 2019, but she used Covid eviction rule and has lived in over 3 years. The eviction was ruled but she appealed to the court to maximize her staying.

Here, my question is whether there is anyone who has a similar experience. And how long does the appeal process take and let her move out? Do you think that it is a crazy idea to buy it? 


If you are able to be very, very patient then it could be a good opportunity, however.....you still have not said how much it is going for. I am very familiar with Berkeley and recently someone came to me with a similar scenario. We looked at the comps and the REO actually was a decent, but not great price. Factor in that they literally had no idea when they could potentially move in to the property because of a similar "tenant" situation and it just wasn't worth the risk.

As an aside I expect to see more of this sort of situation coming up by this time next year here in the East Bay.

Post: Bay Area Real Estate Investing Seminar

Brian GarlingtonPosted
  • Realtor
  • Oakland, CA and a Real Estate Investor with Multi-Family Units and a Self Storage Facility
  • Posts 2,350
  • Votes 2,389

Looks like this could be interesting.

Post: Tough Decision whether to sell my one unit and buy more

Brian GarlingtonPosted
  • Realtor
  • Oakland, CA and a Real Estate Investor with Multi-Family Units and a Self Storage Facility
  • Posts 2,350
  • Votes 2,389
Quote from @Brian Cassanego:

Hello,

Brand new here and would love anyone's input on this. I own a condo in San Francisco. Bought it in 2004 and it has appreciated quite a bit. I have a little over 1M in equity and I am currently renting it and cash flowing a little over 1K per month. Thanks to prop 13, my property tax is only around 12K, my mortgage rate is 3% but my HOA is now 1K per month. But still, I am cash flowing and I have a prop manager in place (as the rules in SF are clearly geared towards tenants rights and didn't want to screw anything up) and I have never once even talked to my tenants (they pay rent on time every month). This is as passive income as I can get. So, it's not a bad situation. And in SF, building new residential units is very difficult, and the fact that SF is a peninsula (finite space to build) and there are great jobs here, it should always be a great market.

However, I keep on thinking if my 1M in equity can be better served in a different market buying multiple properties that may appreciate more and generate better cash flow. I did recently take a 400K HELOC out in order to start buying in other states. I am def interested in Cash flow as well as appreciation. I recently sold my businesses (bars in SF) and will have a bit of money from those to bring towards the investing table. But now, my income is sporadic (Im a mortgage loan officer---got my license in 2020 when the pandemic hit and my bars were shut down--- in CA and business is pretty dry at the moment to say the least). My wife makes good income, but I would like to take the equity I have to generate nice cash flow and future appreciation. Just wondering if I should sell SF to generate a lot more money to invest in multiple properties and markets. I am not afraid of Long distance investing (reading David's book as we speak) and wondering what are people's favorite markets. And what people would do in my shoes. Thanks! and sorry for the long post!!

Cheers,

Brian


 Property is worth a little over $1 Million and your net cashflow is $1,000/month? I almost stopped reading right there.

On a serious note if you want cashflow AND appreciation that usually doesn't go hand in hand as much as you may think. There are plenty of people who will pipe in from other states, but I would suggest you look right across the bay. Specifically the East Bay. Oakland, CA.  

You can buy a multifamily property Oakland that will certainly provide appreciation. There are triplexes and Furplexes you can buy in East Oakland that will give you both. Some people may laugh and say don't buy in "that area", but you will certainly get both.