All Forum Posts by: Ewa Reza

Cash flowing duplex in LA... BAM!

https://www.redfin.com/CA/Los-Angeles/4862-Westhav...

But seriously....

I'm all about 2-4 units in LA. There are areas you can cashflow in LA.

@David DuCille you can buy SFR with 5% down conventional but not multi unit.

@Jay Hinrichs where can we find your eBook?

@Logan Allec I'm all for investing out of state for cash flow. But I'd advise you against it as it is your first investment. There is just to much to learn that you won't be able to simply by reading BP forums or even networking at REI clubs. Get your feet wet close to home. FHA is the best way to go. I specialize in finding my clients 2-4 units in LA. It takes time to find the right property. Sometimes you get lucky and find it right away and sometimes 6 months and longer to actually get your offer accepted. Majority of time it will not cash flow immediately. It doesn't really matter. The outcome when you sell is what matters. The appreciation and tax laws are the key to investing here in SoCal. Many people would disagree but they would probably be out of state :) For a first investment multi-unit is your best choice hands down. I can write about it on and on really... But to keep it short... This is what I would do myself:

1. Get a 3-4 unit with FHA

2. Rent out all units but one. 75% of rents will be used to qualify you for financing.

3. The one unit that you would keep as your primary residence if you'd like to put more time and effort into it would be a great short term vacation rental. This way you can keep your current accommodation and actually make this investment cash flow with relatively little effort and lots of learning potential.

4.Think about it as 2 year plan. SD prices are not going anywhere. Yes, the appreciation will be half of what it was in 2013 and 2014 but with some capital improvements you can still sell your property with nice profit in 2 years. Why 2 years? Because of tax breaks!  

Things will pick up end of January as always. I've got 5 clients currently that are just waiting to file their taxes and they're ready to go... But I don't see a possibility of prices skyrocketing next year as it happened in 2013 and 2014. Rather modest appreciation of 5-7% depending on area of LA... I think it's a good thing! No more flippers making offers based on speculating future price increases.

Many hard money lender won't care about your credit. They will look for a good deal and how much of your own cash you're putting in.

You don't want to buy and hold (rent out) a property at this time. You would need a good credit to get conventional financing in order to do so. Borrowing hard money for this purpose will probably make no sense (at least not in LA)

Wholesaling is a great option to start. 

Los Angeles prices change so rapidly that property owners often are just curious about the value of the offer and that's it. I'd say that majority of the time they feel insulted coz they go on Zillow and see the "zestimate" $200K higher than my offer!  As a US resident Obamacare is what drives me crazy, as an investor and real estate agent Zillow is the number one thing that annoys me the most.

It's hard to say without running the comps for the specific property address... But if you can get $7K in rent without reno... why renovating??? If you don't want to flip it, keep it the way it is and do the reno just before you sell it. At least that's what I would do. 

There's plenty of wholesalers out there. Majority of what they have is (or was) on MLS. The key is to be able to properly evaluate the property using MLS. The ARV that you get from the wholesaler is correct 1 in 50 times. At least that's my experience :)

What are you looking for exactly? Your bio on BP is kinda... non-existent ;)

A lot of people uses Dennis Block (evict123.com)... They offer free over the phone consultation. Although personally I can't say that my consult wit them was helpful at all.

Hi @Robert Agua ! Wholesaling is probably the easiest way to start in real estate. My advise... stop reading and start doing. If you read two books on the subject you're more than ready to start. Start small but just keep going. If you don't work on your business every day don't expect you make a deal in first few months.

One thing that I noticed about all these books and articles about wholesaling is they talk a lot about building "buyers list". That is the least of your problems! In LA if you know just a handful of right people, as long as you have a deal, you'll find a buyer in no time. As a Realtor that works with a lot of investors (and investor myself) I can usually find a buyer within a week, 2 maximum. Hit me up, if you'd like to connect...

I don't think you can evict just one of them @Will F.  If they are nuisance to other tenants explain to them that you will be starting eviction procedures. Personally I would take that guy on a side and tell him he really doesn't want (and doesn't deserve) to have eviction on his record and should talk to his ex girlfriend about simply taking her off the lease (in writing). He should work it out with her privately and avoid the waste of time, money and risking their renting future. Landlord for all decent properties in LA run background check. If they see eviction they won't lease to them, no matter how much money they will put upfront. It's too hard to get rid of them with LA rent control in mind.