All Forum Posts by: Christopher Greci

@Jason you're advise is invaluable.  Thanks for that perspective.  House-hacking is certainly the ideal way to go.  I'm considering this, but I'm not sure if I can get a decent down payment to do so, unless I sell my (only) rental property in Boston.  I'm on the fence about that, and my tenant's lease is up in May.  

Yeah, I love the "locally nomadic" lifestyle.  I'm single and love to spend as much time kiteboarding and now paragliding as possible.  I just need a place to store my clothes & gear, otherwise, meh!  Luxury isn't for me as long as I can fly and ride as much as possible.

I love what you're doing, and best to you as well!

Diane, yeah, I highly considered just doing it mobile like that.  Bouncing around as need be.  Which would work with my lifestyle (I would love to park at the beaches on the weekends!!)  Unfortunately I can't park at my office, our landlord has been very "protective" of the space ever since Levi's stadium went up.  

The more I see the comments roll in here, the more I gravitate towards Diane's first comment, which was to look for a SFH in Redwood city / Santa Clara. Demand is lower for very small homes, which sets them apart from the typical 2-3 bedroom with attached garage, etc. So that seems the best way to save my income for investment. It's much cheaper than the rental averages, while not compromising on commute time, hassle, and generally sucking away my energy in life.

As we all know, time and money are both our greatest assets.  That's really the goal.  If I save tons of money to invest in more rental properties for myself, but don't have the time to do my analysis because of all the potential aforementioned headaches (e.g. tiny home, home on wheels, etc.), then it's not really a good deal ;-) 

I should have titled this post something along the lines of "looking for the path of least resistance" for a minimalist RE investor, because I really am flexible to whatever makes sense.

Hey Diane!  I have not investigated Redwood City, but now I will!  I have looked around Santa Clara.  I'm also doing a little viability study on the possibility of buying a manufactured home (e.g. a trailer park).  I'm still pretty new to California (I'm from Boston) and driving around, some of these parks seem actually pretty nice and totally fine for my standards.  As long as they are relatively low crime I'm happy.  I'm wondering if more people don't take this option just because of the social stigma of a "trailer park" but that doesn't affect me.  My happiness is found outside my domicile :-) 

What I have decided is that I much prefer being the landlord, not being the tenant and paying huge amounts of money to rent in the valley with no money left over to invest.  

Agreed Wes, thanks!  That's why I'm looking on the outskirts where there are already plots of land with tiny houses on them. This would not be within city limits subject to city ordinances, and not San Jose at all.  Unfortunately, commute time would take a big hit :-( 

I love real estate investing, its awesome.  However, in my personal life, I'm a minimalist.  I really could invest more if I minimized my personal expenses.  

My idea..... Buy a lot of land somewhere, preferably 30 mins no traffic (1 hour normal rush hour traffic) from silicon valley.  Build a tiny house on it.  Live in an RV temporarily.  I was considering what my friends are doing, living in an RV, in the city, but I want land, so thats a step up, right? 

If you don't know northern California / silicon valley.....well, you can make a TON of money working as an emgineer (me), but the economics are such that you don't keep your money.  Cheapest 640 sq foot apartment I found is 2,500$, what I'm paying now.  With some sacrifice, I can invest that money and retire early, or at least earlier.  

For example...... The Santa Cruz mountains look beautiful, anywhere off of route 17.  I already see some tiny houses there. 

Am I nuts? If so, help me short circuit the norms and make my pockets bigger long term.  I'm looking for a good trusty realtor that can find me some land in the greater San Jose area where I work. I need information and contacts in the area.  I also would love to talk to any realtors (anywhere) that have helped someone do this before.  Is this even feasible? Thats what I want to answer.  Am I not asking key questions?  I dunna.  Seems viable to me.  

I'm thinking about house hacking to free up cash flow too, but every strategy has its pros and cons, and thats just a backup in my eyes.  

Any reccomendations? Know any realtors specilizing in land/lots in our around San Jose? 

@Dave Foster I had to do some more research on that one, thanks!  Options are what make the game fun, and that's certainly a one I didn't know enough about.  I'm going to validate my eligibility for proration.  This makes me feel like I've got solid range of options now, this one is great from a bottom line perspective.  

Thanks for all the ideas everyone!  Definitely some new ideas here I haven't considered. Maybe shorter term rentals, maybe as short Air B&B is certainly an opportunity.  However, given my remoteness (I have a good paying job in Silicon Valley) I'll have to do some research on how I could manage that.  

It sounds like I'd need somebody closer to the property to partner with closer to make short term rentals work.  I like my property manager right now, and he's not going to go for that.  

It's a tough call because that area is in flux right now.  The future tenant base is slowly changing, the building started with old time Boston folks (not families though), and is now becoming more of the adjacent community which is 20 and early 30s singles.  

I'm considering a 1031 as a strategy to "get out" should I decide to do so, and re-invest closer.  However, if anyone is familiar with the NoCal/SoCal markets, they are FULL of challenges, and I'd probably need time to look at properties 2-3 hours away.  Again... I'm working a demanding job in silicon valley (which I don't plan to do forever!!!)

I need to do 2 things I think. 

A) monitor the appreciation & appreciation potential closely.  If this looks like it's going sour, then get out.  

B) While I appreciate, look for a way to increase cash flow, especially while there is risk of increased property tax and maintenance in the semi-near future.

All this said, I might be getting only 4-6%, which I'm educated enough to make in more traditional, less time consuming, investment strategies.  So that's something to think about..... 

@Blair (ok why doesn't the @ feature work?) , anyways, yeah Blair, you are correct.  My property is next to the Batch Yard, but not part of it.  Charleston seems like a good market, and year after year it slowly edges towards lower Broadway in Everett.

My first investment, never meant to be an investment. I bought a condo, and 12 months later had to move across the country for a job. I kept the condo as an investment. There is a new Casino (Wynn Casino, Boston) being constructed next door (yes, adjacent). My property is cash flow neutral, the tax benefit, and loan paydown is benefiting me more than cash actually.

It's the final "way to gain" (through apprechiation) which I'm thrown off by, and can't decide if I have a good investment or not!

I'm assuming 4% a year apprechiation for my area, but with this giant casino going up next door (only one in Boston area, concert venue as well, etc.) I'm confused. The city includes plans (commitments) to build new firestation, police station, and green space in my area with the casino revenue. It's also dropping in crime, and there is a brand new shopping mall, movie theatre, and subway stop about a mile away. I don't expect any significant traffic or noise issues above the current norm in the area.

I have all my numbers calculated, but it still feels like fuzzy logic to me with this casino so close by. I don't have much equity in the place (about 83% of the value is carried by the loan). Re-financing would help the cash flow go slightly positive, but it's still too new to me for that to make sense (e.g. re-finance closing fees).

It's a loft condo, 780 sq. feet, and totally open space with 14 foot ceilings and a really nice feel to it (it's in a 2006 re-modeled old Boston chocolate factory). Tons of character. However, I'm expecting some special assessments in the next few years because of water ingress. This mainly affects the other South and East sides of the building, but it would be a community shared cost repair, and certainly make my monthly cash flow negative if I dealt with the situation passively (not re-financed into the home). Probably a 1-2 million dollar price tag across all 68 units. with my sq. footage I'd be responsible for about 1% of that cost.

There would be some reasonable opportunity to turn it into an official 1-bedroom by framing up some walls (or a 1.5 bed), but I'm not positive I want to undertake this remotely from California. I don't expect to have any significant capital expenses, aside from a dishwasher or dryer.

I'm looking for some advise. I also feel like there are questions with with valuable answers that I'm not asking yet. I just can't decide on my 5 year plan for this property with so many variables. Again, it was originally planned to be my home, not a rental. It sucks that it's cash flow neutral, but at the same time, risk is fairly low, and apprechiation potential seems huge!

Anything I'm missing here? Definitely still learning. 

Hi.  I just had to move to Cali for work, and as a result, instead of selling my Boston home, I rented it out.  That's how I "got started."  I still don't feel started yet though, I just got an easy opportunity, and finding I like this type of investing.  My property has a casino going in very close by (just broke ground).  I'm expecting an equity boost.  so I've got a few years before deciding if I want to do a 1031 and stay in the game or not.  Time to learn more!  Very cool, love the ability to "hustle" and always feel stuck on the side on the stock market, just watching the computer, ugh.