All Forum Posts by: Kumar Tummalapalli

Happy Friday! I hope your week was fantastic and productive. I'm an infill lot wholesaler, and I've managed to wholesale nine deals since last August, In my first year in this business. Initially, I relied on county GIS to identify potential properties and acquired contracts via cold calls, which led to my first six deals. However, it was quite challenging. Now, I'm in a position to invest in better data. Can anyone suggest reliable data providers for land lists? Currently, I use Propstream, which is great for houses, but not so much for land. Thanks!

 I operate in the NC market but am based in Seattle, WA. I would love to connect with other investors/wholesalers

Happy Friday!

That's because they usually are. Sometimes for no other reason than they have to be....

I had some competitors that knew absolutely nothing about building but were hugely successful. Why? Great businessmen and marketers...plus they had go-getter wives :-)

Stilllllllllll waiting on the utility company to energize the temporary power pole so the existing overhead electric line can be taken down and the roof framing can continue. 

Local utility planner has been elusive at best - 29 emails deep and still can't lock down a date for when they will be out to perform this work. The work order is now with the field office and we are waiting for a phone call in the next 10 business days for when the cut over will happen.  

Dual meter main electrical panel and ADU sub-panel are in

Tub and shower are in for the bathrooms

Really liking the tree top view from the bathtub. The architect really maximized the views from all the windows in the house. 

I couldn't have said it better myself. The prices for each professional involved (surveyor, architect, contractor etc.) vary so much that you can't just default to the middle bid. Recommendations from trusted sources who have actually used their services before are more important to me. How they act from the initial e-mail, phone call, meeting, bid is often a good indicator of how they will be throughout the project. My contractor was the lowest bid as well, but that's because he uses his own crew for most of the work. He only takes on a couple projects at a time but likes to knocks them out quick and move on. He loves building, not managing multiple crews across 10 different job sites all across the county. He makes a very comfortable living but isn't trying to keep up with the monthly payments on that brand new fully loaded Ford F350 and a speed boat. These kind of contractors aren't easy to find, but ask around those in the industry and they know exactly who loves what they do and isn't just watching the clock until Friday payday.  

Every SFR in CA should have at least 1 ADU. I'd even go as far as to say you are losing money every month by not having an ADU on your property. These new laws are only in effect till 2024. What's stopping you from adding an Accessory Dwelling Unit to your property?

@Kumar Tummalapalli  We have experienced 35% to 75% cash on cash return, annualized.  Because projects took less than 12 true returns were higher.   

@Tyler D'Alessandro

I have been an investor in the bay for over 20+ years and my start was buying a residential property, living in it for 3 years and renting it out. I bought that home in 2001.

A lot has changed since but seems like in many ways nothing has changed.

Back then “Prices were high”, the market was super competitive and people who could not afford or were scared to buy - often both - were calling a market top and a crash ahead. The same sentiment was 5x worse from people who did not live or invest in the Bay Area but felt they were somehow “uniquely qualified” to opine on the Bay Area market especially how it was a horrible place to live and had a dark future ahead. That sentiment is very prevalent today. Just surf the BP forums and you will see plenty of investors from tier 2 and tier 3 US markets offering their “expert” opinion on the Bay Area market and the “dark” future of California. So history will be a good guide, and history will tell you the long term returns on Bay Area RE are good.

The principles of investing are still the same. Buy low, add value and sell high or don’t sell if you don’t want to. Buy and hold works too. Listen to your gut and buy what feels comfortable with some element of risk and stretch built in.

Buy low means the cheapest property on the block and a place which you can forsee or force appreciation on. I can’t see how that is any different vs in the past. Money is made when you are buying.

There is a degree of speculation and luck surely. One property of mine shot up in value because a major tech co relocated their offices next door and many others followed. It was just pure luck. No research etc. Another one I bought with 100% research and analysis that many corporates were moving into that area, hasn’t done as well given Covid / WFH. Of course in the long term those prices will come back surely.

You are describing exactly how things stood/appeared in 1997 when I bought my first Bay Area house.  In contrast, we felt like we were holding a lot of face cards when we bought our new primary in early 2009.  Sometimes waiting pays off.  Sometimes waiting causes you to miss out entirely.  No one has a crystal ball.  Best to look at what people are doing rather than saying.  On our part, we have bought three fixers in the past year and are looking out daily for number four.

It is called a 10 year loan because you have a balloon payment at 10 year. I would have prefer a longer term, but that lender was only offering 10 year loans. I wish that I could have a 30 year fixed rate, but with an LLC it is very rare.

Look into your local community banks that are keeping their loans in house, so they are more flexible on their underwriting.