All Forum Posts by: Calvin Liang

@Matthew Irish-Jones I am self-employed and was trying to get a loan from the local bank. But, the bank wants a better financial history. Do you have any bank to recommend? I don't wanna go to a private lender if I have better options due to the higher interest rate.

@Andrew Carducci Thank you for the feedback, great information!

@Matthew Irish-Jones Thank you for the feedback. Your information definitely gives me more confidence in the Buffalo market.  Will definitely want to chat with you more in the future once I start taking action!

@Michael Guzik Interesting, I need to look more into that growth number. But overall Buffalo seems like a safe place to invest. Thank you for the feedback!

I recently visited Buffalo NY and am trying to figure out if its a good place to invest. Below is the number I came up with for one of the properties(It's listed a few months back and it's sold already, but there are other deals that look similar to this one).

The number looks great on paper(see attached image), but I have some concerns:

1. I am from the Bay area, Buffalo is definitely not as vibrant as any city in the Bay area.

2. I am looking at the neighborhood around Buffalo University, my niche is college students.

3. Buffalo has a decreasing population (http://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/buffalo...).

I would love to have some inputs from the experts here. Appreciate any feedbacks you can give me :)

@Stephen G. Thank you for the advice, will definitely dig deeper into that. 

Thank you @Arlen Chou, great advise.

@Account Closed Thank you for the response. I initiated the attempt first and he was planning to sell it to someone else, so can't blame on him :P. But yeah, sometimes friendship comes with a price and that's why I want a win-win deal. 

@Account Closed Thank you for your response. He has two buildings around the same area. He said he wants some cash in hand just in case there are other opportunities. 

It's also possible that the property is not very profitable for him. I ran the number myself, cashflow wide is pretty tough for me. 

Hi, Oakland investors. I am a newbie in the rental market. I started to look for a good investment a few months ago. I don't have a lot of cash, so my downpayment is most likely 5-10% for a property within 800k range. My family friend is willing to sell one of his property to me. 

It is a 5 units building with a commercial unit on the first floor, near San Antonio Park. It's also tenant occupied, the rent he collects is somewhere between 5-6k per month. He's asking for about 700-800k(we haven't talked abt all the details yet) 

What do you guys think it's a good price for this building and should I even try with so little downpayment? What should I look for to come up with a good plan to maximize my return?

I really want to come up with a win-win deal with him.

I do realize things like rent control law in Oakland, and with little cash like I do it's hard to do anything. I really want to get my feet wet on the rental market and learn more(My family friend also has another property right next to this one. 

I would greatly appreciate any advice from experienced investor like you and appreciate your time reading this.