All Forum Posts by: Christopher Cafferty

does anyone have a good handy man referral for central Tacoma?  

Hey Karyn Welcome. I am super interested in investing in Tacoma. More buy and hold than flipping. Good luck!!

@Obrian Rossi To answer your questions HOAs. I will never buy, even if proven cash flows a property belonging to any HOA. There is no control as an investor and corruption galore. In the last 5 years I have paid a $5000 plus in special assessments in getting the exterior of our rental condo painted. Horrible work where a bunch of day laborers came over and painted over stucco. No color coat, over the stucco. The work was done by a contractor who was friends with certain individuals at our management company. Cash flow breaks even on one place and we get around $400 on the other. The math is not there for buildings falling apart on land I do not own (Though they will sell fast here by the Coast, unbelievably). So I would rather put into property with no management company and not only burn money but also let my money go into things I have almost no say in and given to people that don't have the same ethics as ourselves. I am not saying all HOA's are bad. I am in two. But I am saying that 99.9% of them are bad based on my experience. We currently also have another special assessment for the townhouse we own to do siding for $7,000. The catch is they only want to do the backside of the row houses, when all should be replaced. Catch number two they are also contractors that our friends with our other management company. I have seen the contract and it the dumbest bid I have ever seen with a giant grey area of extra fees and labor. I want to sell both my places over the next year and reinvest elsewhere sans HOA and sans a management company I did not hire. And both HOAs have rumors of that person twenty years ago who cleaned out the reserve. They system built from the start broken to work for investing. I wish I had BP back then because I'd probably already be investing out of state. If I ever get a chance to talk to you in person I'll give you the bigger story of the HOA for our places.Horrific. Here is to 2014 and hoping to be able to pick the brains of some fellow newbies soon at a meetup, learn more and put my money in an investment or two I can manage myself.

@ O'Brian Welcome. I am in a similar situation here. The meetup Ali is proposing should be great. I've scoured Southern California properties to the point I don't even look anymore. So in love with the numbers in some Texas towns, though I may invest in the great northwest (write offs) as I do plenty of personal traveling. Currently looking to sell the properties I have here that do have a small amount of cash flow. Having owned investment property I would suggest not buying anything you are not 100 percent sure on. You will learn tons through BP. This I can vouch for! welcome!!!

I would be more than interested. As would my wife. If you want any help arranging and figuring out where to meet let me know !?

Southern California is hard now. I plan on taking my two investment properties in long beach, sell and go out if state. I want to buy and hold. I know a couple people who flip here but I'd rather keep my day job. Immediate cash flow without having cash to finance or buying commercial is hard to come by in Southern Cal. I however think long term holding will be advantageous here but it could take a bit to get a decent percentage through renting. I told a friend the other day I wanted to get a rental that hits the one to two percent scenario. He laughed. That's why I know more flippers here than buy and holders... But the competition is stiff. Feels like being a small fish in a giant ocean. Numbers are numbers.

Planning on purchasing a duplex/triplex in Tacoma or outskirts of Seattle (Federal way, Everett, Snohomish). I would love to meet more people up there, though I live in Los Angeles. I need to explore Tacoma more in person and am very familiar with Seattle. I'm somewhat of a newbie but learning to ask questions on BP to save time and frustration. We have a ton of family in Seattle but nobody knows Tacoma well. Planning on a trip the first week of the year.

Hello lulu! Welcome to BP. I am a newbie as well, but feeling more comfortable thanks to BP. Also an accidental landlord but live close enough to manage our property. I think the combo of having a good respectful tenant and a manager is your best bet. I dropped rent to get our tenant ( by 50 bucks ). He's lived there for 5 years now and I've never raised rent. He also communicates if anything is wrong at all. If I had to have a management company I'd make sure to get tenant and company communicating. Management companies if not good can break you. Make sure the contract you have with them makes you feel good. I've had friends who lost a place, much to do with the management company sitting on it and not getting it rented then charging hourly fees for things my friends should have done themselves. You are close enough to at least be part of the screening process and meet possible tenants. I want to invest in Tacoma/Seattle soon soon so let is all know if you've found some good people to work with. Being on BP is a smart move!! Good luck!!!

Thanks Carlos. Yes I think it's a fair idea to look into other places and the more I listen to the podcasts the more I realize it is fairly common. As long as I can be realistic and figure in the cost for good management it can have cash flow that I can not figure out in Los Angeles and under my circumstances. Recently have been looking into Tacoma. Hopefully I can get some feedback here on that market. I know Seattle well, but it has inflated to almost Los Angeles standards. Tacoma seems to be a gem, close enough to Seattle but still good numbers for multi-family. Think I will go up after the New Year. THANK YOU!

@ emma chen

Yeah Texas looks great for the numbers. Los Angeles is a tough nut to crack without serious cash. Buy and hold can work to start but I think I'd rather have more passive cash then wait years for rent to match or a return on equity here. Granted a duplex in Long Beach, by the time I'm 65 will be quite a retirement in itself. We have two pieces of property here and debating using them in anyway possible to leverage into a multiplex elsewhere where the numbers our favorable. I am putting into REIT's meanwhile and researching as much as I can for when the time presents itself to take an educated action. Let me know what you find. I have a friend looking into Kansas City now for investments.