All Forum Posts by: Damaso Bautista

@Matt Stricklen

Hey Matt, 

Here in LA there is a tent city in every culvert and overpass and values aren't dropping a bit.  

Now I can see the argument that Austin's economy can not withstand the rapid rise in property values which will cause a collapse in the market.  That makes sense to me.

You are basically saying that Austin can not compete economically with Los Angeles.  OK I buy that argument

@Matt Stricklen

And the point of your point was for information only? or for out of Staters with big bank accounts to feel sorry for the locals and stop coming there?

Or for the locals to feel sorry for themselves because out of staters are moving there with large bank accounts?

I don't understand your post.

@Allen Magtibay

I am doing this exact thing for my son.  He is renting rooms to his friends.  I view this as a lifestyle choice and not a straight business decision.

My wife and I made a decision a long time ago that we would fund both of our kids out of state education in full. This includes out of state tuition, books, food and housing.

When we bought the home I looked at it like I was paying for housing and expense that we had budgeted and saved for many years.

So for us the rent that we are getting amounts to getting free housing for out kid for the years that he is there.

We do require the signing of a lease and and that their parent sign the lease, but we do not require them to leave a security deposit. We are not very formal at all with this though.  We allow are son to collect rent and to make sure the house stays liveable.  

This for us makes this situation really stress free.  So far it has worked out and we have not had any problems with missed rents or other issues.  If for some reason his friends choose to stop paying rent, we will work through the issue but it will not be the end of the world financially for us. 

We have insurance and a large umbrella policy to protect us against potential liabilities that might happen.

Good luck and if you have any other questions please PM me and I will answer them for you.

@Agustin Dionicio

What @Will Barnard said!!!!

He is one of the most experienced people here in Los Angeles regarding this.

@Jalissa Carter

I would be asking myself what kind of market is this home in. (most markets are real hot right now and if its a good deal in a strong market on mls it will be sold at or above asking soon)

If it has been sitting for a while you need to really look into why it is sitting.  If after you do your due diligence and its good to go by your metrics, then make whatever offer you want and negotiate because its sitting there not sold anyway.

Figure out what situation and market you are in and then deal accordingly.

Always according to your criteria.

Good luck!

@Joey Nugent

Why aren't you using your dad?  You were unclear.  

That is the best way for you to get your foot in the door in my opinion.  

Other then that, find a place and ask them for seller financing assuming that you have enough money for a good enough down payment to make the seller feel good.

If you don't have that then I guess you are just going to have to wait.  

Good luck!

@Bryce Carafa

You may have some of these steps done but this is how I approach it.

1. Clean out

2. Demo

3. Major systems- roof, electrical, plumbing (you should already know based on your due diligence if these things need upgrading or not

4.  HVAC and Water Heater

5. removing walls and adding headers to open up spaces including ceilings

6. windows

7. outside upgrades painting/ siding 

8. drywall

9. painting

10. flooring

11. bathroom and finishes

12. kitchen and finishes

13. Clean up the outside and make yard presentable to your liking

Bonus* double check the things you deemed good during your initial planning.

This happened to me one time.  I knew that the water heater was functional during my initial planning.  Went through the whole process and was a day away from renters coming in.  

I went to start the water heater back up and it failed.  Had to run out and panic buy a water heater.  If I would have checked the system earlier I could have mitigated the panic/rushed situation.

As far as need to do: In my area of Los Angeles, people are looking for open space between kitchen and living room with a nice Island in between to be conducive to entertaining, so that is something I am always considering when making a place rent ready and marketable at top dollar.

Look at your area and make your rental competitive with the others.  

Good luck!

@Angela Yan

Hey Angela I think there are many new investors who have the idea that investing in real estate is a get rich quick scheme.

I believe all investing vehicles work if they are done over a lifetime. Consistently over time.

Before you know it 30 years down the line you look at your accounts and you are amazed at what has accumulated.

I feel this is true about real estate, especially the n California’s large cities.

It has made many people lots of money but it also takes time and this is something people don’t like to hear.

Nice post topic!

@Kevin Panella

We are in very similar situations, so my question to you is why not just sit back, get your money in order for when the next too good to pass up deal to come along and then jump on that.  

At this point in the market there aren't to many deals here in So Cal just laying around to be picked up so unless you are planning on a full time transition or putting all of your off time effort into real estate investing exclusively in So Cal ( you said you don't want to go out of state) then just make sure you are as prepared to go with your money when something does come across your plate.

Good luck!

@Ben Swartz

Watch Brandon Turner BP video on youtube called:

Calculating Numbers on a Rental Property [Using The Four Square Method!]

This is a great and easy breakdown of how to analyze numbers.

Good luck!