All Forum Posts by: Daniel Z Fang

Congratulations! How are the returns now? What is one learning point from the process that would help others wanting to do the same?

Congratulations! Looking forward to hearing how it goes after rehab

Hi Justin - you’ve got some big dreams which is great, but I would suggest starting with a first deal, learning the business, and then repeating. Investors will want to know your competitive advantage and what sets you apart from others doing the same thing.

Thank you for sharing, Scott. I am also a part time investor with a full time job and family. It’s inspiring to see how far you’ve come working one step at a time. Looking forward to hearing more!

It's great you're thinking about this early! I wish I had the forethought to plan so far ahead. Go into college with a plan. Treat it like an investment and figure out early how you'll get your return back. Student loans are awful, but depending on what you study, they can be a fantastic investment. Save as much as possible by living frugally. Work in college if you can and find ways to shorten the length of study to minimize your loans. As far as first property, look into househacking-you may be able to purchase a place with little down using an FHA loan and subsidize your mortgage by moving your friends in and pay rent.

Some VC money / investors are leaving and startups are not as appealing here as they use to be, but established tech companies are not going anywhere. They’re expanding to other parts of the country like Austin, but I haven’t heard of many established companies closing shop in Silicon Valley to go somewhere else.

I’m weighing the pros and cons of paying off one or two rental properties versus picking up more properties with leverage. Do folks use any general rules of thumb in deciding when (if ever) to limit use of leverage, given where we’re at in the market cycle?

You may not need more than 20% down for an investment property plus closing costs and reserves. Note investor loans have higher interest rates than loans for a primary residence. Heloc could be a good strategy as long as you have some equity in the home, usually at least 70% LTV though exact number depends on the lender. Cash out refi is another option. I wouldn't put equity into the home just to borrow it out again - makes more sense to save if the home doesn't already have enough equity to heloc or cash out refi

Welcome Patrick. I’m also a CA investor looking out of state. I do think California properties have great appreciation potential if you’ve got the money, especially if your time horizon is far enough away, but Its awful for cash flow with lots of short term uncertainty. I don’t think companies like google, apple, Netflix, and all the others are going anywhere soon. One thing I’ve noticed is that sometimes folks presume CA investors assume CA prices when looking out of state. All real estate is local so make sure you do your due diligence and ask folks in the area what you should be paying, even if it appears to be a steal by CA standards.

Learn everything you can about personal finance and get your own financial “house” in order. This is an important first step as all real estate investing will flow from your ability to manage your own assets and your own psychology. There are great resources on bp to start (eg biggerpockets money podcast). Welcome to real estate investing!