All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Welcome to the family. Congrats on your newish job and your dogged persistence to achieve success! There's lots of great deals in Fresno! Keep building your network!!

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I can't recommend more strongly that you should use that great down payment to house hack a duplex or quad. You could purchase something close to $900k. Managing a small multi is really not any more complicated than buying a SFR. My wife and I started with house hacking a duplex and THEN house hacked a SFR. If I had to do it all over again, I'd house hack another duplex. Heck, if I could find a solid duplex now, I'd do it all over again!

You're young and you can move out of a multi in 2 years and sell or completely rent the property. I know you said you want to buy a SFR, but for your situation, that doesn't make a whole lot of cents. (corny pun intended)

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Nick Street with Mountain West. Tell him I sent you. Fastest replies and best customer service I've experienced.

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Sacramento, California

People in EG drive to downtown for work, if they work for the state. Even some partners at my old firm. Personally, I would pick EG over Natomas if I wanted a safe, cookie cutter investment.

Originally posted by @Yaohua Li:

@Embert Madison jr thanks for the detailed reply!

In fact, I did see Elk Grove before Sacramento. Better school than South Natomas (the place I'm looking at in sac) and closer to Bay area. Elk Grove is farther from downtown (jobs!) and has slightly worse cap rate but supposedly higher tenant quality?

When I went to Elk Grove in 2017, at least 2 agents mentioned Natomas for investment. But this year another agent seems to slightly prefer Elk Grove.

I know it's better to act than think back and forth. But my day job is busy before the end of year so I don't plan on buying anything before next year anyway.

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Tracy is a small subburb. Developers there are throwing up track homes and industrial buildings. Those track homes are for people to commute into the Bay Area for jobs, not to work in the city itself. There are not the economic prospects for people who live there like Pleasanton and Dublin to the west.

I'm not sure what is meant by "Tracy's economy is relevant to the Bay Area". Tracy is basically an affordable place to live for people who don't mind terrible commutes. The public schools are not the greatest. It's not a Bay Area employer, and its small population wise. There are less than 100,000 people there.

Sacramento on the other hand is a capital city. Over 500,000 people live in the city itself. For so long it was a forgotten one, but the amount of outside investment over the past 5-10 years has turned it into one of the nation's fastest growing metro with three large subburbs sprouting off of it (Roseville, Folsom, and Elk Grove). The new soccer stadium development is going to double the size of the city's current downtown. Heck, I'd rather invest in Elk Grove versus Tracy because the schools and continued development (i.e. casino) happening there.

Originally posted by @Yaohua Li:

@Embert Madison jr thanks for your reply. Could you elaborate on why Sacramento is better than Tracy?

Tracy's economy is relevant to Bay area. How does that play in the REI game?

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10% is great IMO. Just make sure you have the property appraised and your legal documents are airtight. Not many folks can get 10% return without doing much work.

3 Votes

Sacramento > Tracy. Long-term, you'll be happy with the Sacramento property.

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I had a VA loan, I would only look at multi-family properties. While you likely won't find many in Natomas (super close to the airport), Midtown and South Land Park are not far from the airport. Traffic on the 5 from those areas north to the airport, on the WORST days, makes it a 30-40 minute trip. Generally its 15-20. So I would find a great property and deal with the commute, it's not bad at all. Please feel free to DM if you have any specific neighborhood questions!

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I echo Annette's comments. I got introduced to IKEA cabinets last summer and they are a game changer. Cheap and purdy.

Originally posted by @Annette Hibbler:

I've designed and remodeled many kitchens. Some smaller than this one. Here's what I would do with a $12K budget.

1. Rip it all out and start from scratch.

2. Keep the existing sink location. Place dishwasher on the right or left side.

3. Place the new base and upper cabinets along the back wall (where sink and window are) and extend them only along the wall where the stove is located in the pic. So you'll essentially have an "L" shape.

4. Keep the stove on the same wall. Replace it with a newer brand and surround it on both sides with base cabinets and countertops. Don't place the stove at the end of the cabinets. Better to snug it in between cabinets with countertops on either side. Make sure to leave enough space for the stove when installing cabinets (generally 16" inches but double-check).

5. Place a microwave with built-in venting above the stove. Tip: Buying all your appliances in one place saves money. Look out for black Friday sales too! We've gotten best deals at Best Buy stores that beat out Home Depot & Lowes. Plus, they will often hold them for you until your ready to install.

6. Keep the opposite wall clear for the fridge (make sure you have a fridge outlet there). You do not have to provide a fridge.

We buy our kitchen cabinets through IKEA. They look custom but at warehouse prices. The wall cabinets (upper cabinets) are much easier to install because they run along one metal rod. So instead of drilling holes through the back of every cabinet into the wall, you only place one metal rod and the cabinets easily hook onto the rod with bolts then slide in (left to right). This ensures cabinets are level and makes adjustments and switching out cabinets so much easier! They are also remarkably durable. The cabinet hinges are the best I've ever found thus far. I have them in my own kitchen.

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Congrats! Last August I quit my law firm to wholesale/flip full-time and practice law part time. A year later I decided to go back to law full time and continue to invest in bigger projects as my side hustle. This investor life is a journey that is rarely linear. Best of luck to you!!!

1 Vote

All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Account Closed has started 12 posts and replied 280 times.

Post: Newbie from Sacramento / Fresno California

Post: Need Help Getting Into Real Estate Investing (Sacramento/EG)

Post: Looking for a mortgage broker recommendation in Sacramento area

Post: Bay Area Investors: Tracy v.s. Stockton v.s. Sacramento?

Post: Bay Area Investors: Tracy v.s. Stockton v.s. Sacramento?

Post: Should I loan someone $100k for 10% return?

Post: Bay Area Investors: Tracy v.s. Stockton v.s. Sacramento?

Post: Moving to Sacramento

Post: Kitchen Remodel Question

Post: Quitting Job to Pursue Real Estate: Documenting my Journey