All Forum Posts by: David Jiang

Does anyone here have experience hiring architects based in other countries through services like Fiverr? I'm in Northern California and my two local architects are usually backed up 3 months. While they're great for large construction projects and/or SB9 splits, I sometimes come across very straight forward flips that I just need a simple 2-pager plan drawn up. I'm wondering if freelancers found on Fiverr and other similar sites are capable of drawing up plans that can pass local Planning & Building review? Is there anything I should watch out for or be aware of when going this path? Thanks!

I sold a small parcel of land in California back in 2017 and seller financed $48k of the purchase price. The buyer was paying the loan regularly until mid-2020 when he stopped completely. There's only about $12k left on the loan and the 5 year term on the loan will be coming up in May 2022. I have a few questions rattling around in my head:

1) If the seller can't pay, is foreclosure the best method to recoup the outstanding balance? Is there any way to also repossess the land itself? 

2) What type of lawyer should I look for to help me with this? I've looked around and most 'real estate' lawyers are focused on drafting contracts and other legal documents while 'foreclosure' lawyers are almost exclusively focused on helping those getting foreclosed on.

3) Are there any alternative paths of least resistance I'm missing here?

Thanks!

Just closed on a place in the Bay Area in an established residential neighborhood. In purchasing insurance for the property from Farmers, I was shocked that they suddenly require an additional fire insurance policy from something called California FAIR plan. It is exceedingly expensive, $3500/yr, and makes no sense for the house as it is not in a forest or anywhere close to being considered rural. My insurance agent said, due to the increasing wildfires in California, all insurance companies are overly cautious right now. Has anyone else run into this problem recently? Were you able to appeal the cost at all?

@Zab Khan, no I haven’t yet. Do you have any good recommendations?

Thanks!

Hello BP,

I'm working on converting a family room in a SFH into an attached accessory unit and could use some referrals for GCs that are decent quality and investor-friendly in the Bay Area. I don't need someone who's completely turn-key either, as I'm already handling the building permits, architecture drawings, and likely future inspections. So tradesmen who run a small, two or three man crew, and just want to "do the work" would be perfect for this job.

Thanks,

David

What would be sufficient proof that a cash payment I make to a contractor is an expense for a project? I always have trouble with this as I do a lot of flips and have a few people who moonlight for me on their weekends and prefer a cash payment. Is the cash withdrawal showing up in my bank account enough proof or do I need some kind of receipt or invoice from the person I'm paying?

I'm wondering if anyone here has run into this and if so, how you dealt with it.

I'm currently listing a rental as a private landlord and not getting a lot of hits except one applicant with solid scores and income. The person though seem to be very cautious. One thing they've asked of me before signing the lease is to send them a copy of my driver's license which is highly unusual to me. (Usually I'm the one asking them for a copy.)

I'm pretty sure this person is honest but likely grew up in a country where scammers are rampant so is just being extra careful. But in case I'm wrong, I wanted to confirm with the greater BP minds that there's no harm in giving out a copy of my license? Thanks.

Hello, 

I am currently negotiating the sale of a piece of residential land to the neighbor next door and he's willing to pay 20% down while I provide seller financing for the remainder amortized over 5 years. I am getting a loan servicing company to set up payment collection.

I have never been on the lending side before. What are some of the practical considerations that I should consider in this type of a deal? I know this is a very broad question and in fact, I'm just looking for anything that comes to your mind that might help me avoid unforeseen risk or headache.

Worse case scenario, if the buyer defaults, what is the the foreclosure procedure like and how much should I budget for that? What are some of the more mundane implications like the impact on filing taxes? Who pays the property tax now that we both have equitable title? Once the loan is paid off, do I need to do anything or does title automatically transfer over to the buyer? etc...

I just ran into an issue with the city planning department for a rehab I'm doing where they are rejecting my plans for the siding because they said what I called out was "cheap and does not fit the character of the neighborhood." (FWIW, the house is not in a high-end or even good neighborhood by any stretch of the imagination.)

Specifically, they are taking issue with the T1-11 plywood siding panels that I'm calling out for use around the sides and back of the house. I'm using a nice shiplap siding on the entire front which they are fine with.

Admittedly, I'm using T1-11 to save cost but this is the first time I've had a planning department reject it based on style. I can't find a city ordinance yet that says they can outright ban it but like all dealings with bureaucrats, you kind of just have to play their game.

Have any of you ran into this issue before? Would it even help to negotiate with the planning department and if so, what's the best approach? Thanks for the guidance.

@Deanna McCormick Thanks, that's great info! I'm talking with their case worker first thing Monday and I'm going to make sure I get them on the same page. If there's no lease to be found, I'm going to try to serve 30 days and get my property emptied as soon as possible.