All Forum Posts by: Adriel Liwag

Hi BP, our monthly meetup for this month is posted on the Meetup app. Please RSVP in the app if you can make it. Details are on the app as well. This is a casual meetup as usual and will have absolutely no sales pitching of any kind. Everyone is welcome from new to seasoned investors doing different kinds of investing in RE.

Here is the link to the Meetup app where you can RSVP. I look forward to seeing you guys.

http://meetu.ps/e/GlLkc/yl6qp/f

Adriel

@Tom Price I appreciate the support. I agree with you 100% on everything you said. It was a wholesaler that sold me the property. He was actually someone I had met locally to me in Los Angeles and at that time he said he was from Bend and ended up moving back to Bend from LA. Once he moved he called me about it. He's gotten in some trouble with a few investors in Bend and other people in the business. Part of my focus now is on sourcing my own off-market deals as 99% of wholesalers just don't know what the heck they're doing. The problem is, they can justify their deals because there are so many new investors/flippers who are actually buying the bad deals just to make a buck and be able to say they're flipping. I guess you could say I was one of those morons who bought from one although I believe mine situation was a little different from most wholesale deals. haha! My numbers were there in the beginning where as the new investors who are buying don't even know how to run the numbers period. 

@Karen Margrave I agree and had to learn that the hard way. 

@Natalie Kolodij On this note an example of gentrification being a positive would be the beautiful Deschutes River. Back in the old days  it was a river full of logs and no one could go in it and now it’s cleaned out and absolutely beautiful, it’s “the place to be” in the summer. All the parks that have been built around Bend, these are all results of gentrification. 

@Natalie Kolodij I’m not quite sure what repetitive comments of how pathetic it is to invest in Bend you’re talking about. I would definitely invest in Bend again any day if the opportunity is right. What I’m referring to is specifically dealing with any historical home anywhere. If you reread my post you will see that as @Karen Margrave mentioned, It’s not Bend that I’m complaining about, it’s the process of renovating a historical home. I have a good friend in Bend who did a historical flip in Idaho and the process was the same and the same goes for Los Angeles. 

I understand the concerns and feelings of locals with people moving into Bend and “ruining” it but I’m not one of those people. As a full time flipper/investor I take pride in the quality, design and type of renovations I do as I do not do the “lipstick on a pig” renovations that many investors do. I restore and renovate homes accordingly to their design and era. If you actually go and see my project and see the end result you may actually be surprised because as far as my current knowledge goes, there hasn’t been a historical home in that specific area that has been renovated to the degree of my house where it’ll be fully renovated and restored to its originality, essentially being brand new with mostly the original features. So my point in saying this to show your that I’m actually coming into the area and improving it. The complaints of locals sound the same as renters in LA who fight gentrification. It’s really sad because although I can understand the feelings of people who are against any type of change/gentrification, they obviously do not see the bigger picture. Do you not appreciate economic growth, more job opportunities, safer neighborhoods, higher property values etc? Too many people spend too much time and energy complaining about gentrification when it really is a positive and it cannot be stopped. It’s the natural progression of  the world. As population increases, the need for gentrification will continue. 

@Tom Price the only reason I have that much money into it was because it was a project that went wrong from the start. Basically I trusted the wrong guy who wholesaled it to me site unseen. It was my own fault which I humbly but painfully admit. The original play was to buy it for $270k, he claimed that rehab would be $40k and we could sell at $430k. Pics he sent me indicated that the $40k rehab budget was accurate. Once I closed on it and got onsite, it was evident that there were major foundation issues, it needed all new plumbing and electrical, all of which he did not tell me. So once I started to rip into things it just went downhill from there. But I look at this “failed” project as a step forward to make me stronger and better going forward. I will post pics as soon as it sounds completed. 

I love Bend and hate those who come in from Cali and who bring the bad Cali attitude, I can’t stand them myself. 

I apologize for any typos as I’m responding from the BP app which isn’t that great. 

Hi Karen, it's seems I'm definitely going to be losing money on this one. I'm just grateful I bought with my pateners equity and not a HML. I will be selling it. I do plan to post befor and after pics once it's completed. I did vault the kitchen ceilings. It will be a 900 sq ft 2/2. It's practically brand new. New roof, new foundation (it didn't have a concrete foundation when I bought it and was sitting on lava rocks) new plumbing, electrical drywall etc. it was literally town down to the studs. I also added a new garage as it didn't have one. As far as materials go, the exterior has to be the same type of materials, you can get away with more things on the interior. It's quite pathetic. The only break I got was a tax break. The state has a program for historical homes for a tax break but you have to be enrolled in it. I'll definitley be posting more details once it's done. How are you doing in Bend?

Adriel

@Stephanie Mora it was great meeting you. I didn't even see this reply until now. Looking forward to connecting again.

@Shawn Morey Good seeing you brother. Looking forward to staying connected.

@Victor Viyuoh try to make the next one. :)

@Karen Margrave  All the time and money involved with the city is terrible. You literally have to get every inch of the house approved by the city and the historical society, two separate departments. The cost and time of inspections, approvals and permit fees murdered me on this one. The other negative factor is not being able to design the home to your liking. You have to put it back to exactly how it looks on whatever picture the city has on file for the property when it was first built. Even the type of materials used, you have no say in, it has to be the same as it was. For instance, my windows have to be wood and can't vinyl, even though they are on the back side and not visible to the front. You can try to dispute some of the items but most of the time you won't win. 

@Catherine Emert I don't have pics to upload yet as I haven't sorted through them but it's basically going to be a brand new house. I will message you the address.

Hi @Account Closed and I host the Los Angeles Real Estate Rockstars meetup in North East LA, specifically Eagle Rock every 2nd Wednesday of the month. It's more of a casual networking meetup and not too formal.

Hi Ian, welcome. As @Nabil Suleiman mentioned, you would really have to narrow down your end game. Nabil and I just came from the local 2019 RE summit and they showed the average cap rate for rentals in California is about 3%. You could easily go out of state and get a 6-9% cap rate with at lower price points as well. Again, it depends on what your goals are. I believe that the closest way for you to even get a decent cap rate or cashflow in LA is either finding off-market MFR's or buying SFR'r and adding sq ft like @Nick Marrs mentioned.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment in Altadena.

Purchase price: $650,000
Cash invested: $200,000

Still in the process of renovation. Expected ARV $950k