All Forum Posts by: Etienne Martel

Hey Bob,

I don't find this realistic at all. During all our screening; we require 3x rent, no evictions, no felonies. 

I would attempt to screen how your property manager recommends. If you still do not have a tenant in 1-2 months, I would reproach the screening process.

Thanks & Never give up!

Hey Tab,

I would advise you to make a relationship with a contractor of that scale. You may not want a contractor that has only done SFH, because they may view of process differently than a multi-unit contractor. The multi-unit contractor may also have the discounts on materials since he is contacted buying large amounts of materials.

If your offer is accepted and you still haven't closed, you can always ask for a credit back from the buyer if it's all going to hell. If you haven't closed, you can still back out.

Get the contractor quote, check the market rents with the same unit quality, and know your operating expenses. 

Thanks and don't give up!

Hey Dana,

I agree that the Bay Area does not have a good return for buy & hold properties. I grew up in Foster City, so I know the Bay Area very well.

 I invest out of state with my family specifically on buy & hold rentals. They're much less expensive compared to the SF Bay Area and have amazing returns.

I would say that the hardest part of investing out-of-state, is setting up your team. You need to be able to trust them and understand each others view on the process. 

Let's connect! I would love to learn more about your goals and see how I can help you.

Thanks!

Hey Adam, Welcome to BP!

I live in Foster City, so i'm very close to you. Glad you already have experience and are looking to continue expanding. 

Let's connect and see how we can make some win/win situations!

Thanks

Hey Arturo,

If you have included the architect costs in your budget, then it should. If you did not budget for that, then it won't be included in your loan. 

The loan officer won't be able to be predetermine and estimate who you hire and the cost for the architect.

I would call your loan officer and be crystal clear to fix the situation. 

Thanks & hope I helped!

Hey Neddie,

My advice to you would be to cold-call a bunch of Realtors in Columbus to get the inside scoop. You will definitely come across agents that don't know anything about your market, but brush it off and call the next one. 

Take notes and cross reference the data you collected to find out which market you want to be in. There are pockets everywhere.

Thanks & hope this helped!

Hey Marlon,

From my experience, investing in California is great if you can fund the property with all cash or with extremely low interest.

I'm from the SF Bay Area, but my brother lives in LA and knows a few investors that invest in LA. Investing here is similar to LA. There is tons of money to be made, but there are so many eyes on these markets that big time investors can throw their cash at some deals to outbid you. 

I'm not saying that you should give up on these markets, but you will have to figure out how to squeeze yourself into some investments. 

Thanks! Hope this helped

Hey Will,

One thing that popped in my mind is, do you feel comfortable allowing someone else to pick the Air BnB tenants and have them living close by to you. 

If the area is very desirable for Air BnB, I would personally Air Bnb them all to gain a huge profit. If you live in a tourist area, Air BnB can make a much larger profit than a rental. 

You can rent out the room in your unit, and then Air Bnb the entire other unit (either by door or entire unit).

There are a few options. Hope I helped.

Thanks.

Hey Daniel,

I use out of state property management teams and we use that same screening method you're currently using. I would reverse engineer the process to figure out how you can find decent tenants that will want to live in those areas. For the tenants that say they don't want to live in those areas, ask them what would make them want to live there or make them feel more comfortable. 

Sometimes you can just offer lower rent or possibly no down payment. Talk with your clients, understand where they're coming from, and adjust your qualifications on those answers. 

Hope I could help!

Thanks