All Forum Posts by: David Kanter

It's on my calendar, looking forward to meeting everyone!

It's not actually true that condo converting removes rent control. AFAIK:

1. You must sell all but one of the units in the building before you can eliminate the limits on raising rent.

2. Most other tenant protections still apply

I wish I could make it, but will be traveling to Raleigh and NYC! Thanks for organizing!

David

Sam, thanks for the reply - got the notification. When we finalize the date, would be great if you could post and mention us all. The email notification is great.

David

I missed this unfortunately! Would show up to the next one though...

I'd be interested. A monthly or quarterly event would be great.

I am just starting out, and looking to invest in small MFH. I am also fortunate enough to have some connections to a fairly large RE group that owns about $2B and 20K units in large multi-family apartments.

I can arrange to spend a few days (maybe up to a week) talking to their team, to learn from them. They are OK with this since I don't compete with them at all (operate in different states and types of buildings). The company is roughly organized into (1) acquisitions, (2) asset management/operations, (3) risk management (also construction), (4) finance/tax, and (5) legal.

This is an awesome learning opportunity, and I want to take full advantage of it. I might even write about some of what I learn. Here is what I am planning to ask/do:

1. Compare my acquisition model that I built (shows cashflow, P&L, etc.) to theirs, and walk through them together. Understand their criteria and how they chose the requirements.

2. Learn about their due diligence checklists

3. Spend a day with one of their asset managers inspecting properties. Understand how their systems work, the cost per unit, etc. I am not so sure what to ask here.

4. Find out how they keep contractors on time and on-budget for upgrades.

5. I don't think the finance is applicable to me yet, since I can get standard residential mortgages.

What would you ask? What would you want to know or learn? I have this great opportunity and I don't want to squander it.

Thanks for your suggestions!

David

I'm looking to buy my first property, and a relative would like to help out with the down payment, providing around $150K. That's large enough that the $14K/year IRS gift exclusion is an issue, and obviously we would prefer to arrange this so that there are no taxes paid. Here are some thoughts I had:

0. Simply pay taxes on it today. Not attractive, but the easiest thing.

1. Find a place where I can afford the down payment already and get $28K/year (relative + husband) in cash as a gift. May limit buying options, but is absolutely OK.

2. Relative (and spouse) provide money as investors, but then gifts $28K of the basis per year. Will take ~5 years to fulfill. (I think this works, but not 100% sure)

Does anyone have thoughts/feedback/suggestions? Any creative strategies that they have tried? 

Thanks,

David 

J, Thanks for the welcome and the event on Thursday. We did meet there, and it was a fun event. Will PM you about hanging out.

Hello Bigger Pockets! My name is David and I live in SF. I've been here about 10 years and have been a master tenant for 7 years and I own part of a large multi-family building in CO, as a passive investor. I work for myself in technology and have some spare time to learn new things. I am very strong quantitatively and quite familiar with economics and various aspects of the tax code. I also know a fair bit about SF rent control laws.

Fun fact: I worked on a derivatives accounting investigation into Fannie Mae a few years ago, looking into interest rate hedges.

I started learning about real estate within the last 6 months, but quite a few of my family members have RE backgrounds in Chicago, and the Southwest. I'm looking to become an active investor and acquire a 3-4 unit multi-family home in SF using a residential loan. I am in the process of building out my team, and I'm always looking for advice from those with more experience. In that vein, I've been listening to the BP podcast for a while.

Longer term, I'd love to continue investing, but SF is a very difficult environment for anyone who favors cashflow. Most 2-4 unit buildings seem to be sold for 2-5% cap rates and negative cashflow. I aspire to learn from the mistakes of others, and make my mistakes as painless as possible. I also believe that deals only really work when everyone's interests are aligned (which is why I'd never buy a flip, or flip myself).

I will be going to the SF Real Estate Meetup that J Martin organizes tomorrow, if anyone else will be attending.

I very much enjoy learning and am always happy to share my process and lessons I've learned with the community.

David