All Forum Posts by: Gilbert Dominguez

Jay,

I have only owned an  aircraft once back in the late 80'. A twin engine something all weather but after experiencing what you talk about when it comes to annuals I decided that airplane was going to get me broke. I still fly a bit but only as a passenger. The first time I ran into a strong turbulence and dropped 200 feet in what seemed like an eternal 40 seconds I decided to sell the plane . I owned the plane but was paying a pilot to train me. I never did get my license.  After that incident I thought I would try bronco riding because it might be safer, hehe :) After that I liked flying allot more out of books than in real planes. 

I salute you for hanging in there. 

I would say to try to do a walk through at every house that comes on the market in your area and somehow make a note of the finishes and amenities those properties have. Pay close attention in case you see someone making an offer and if you can try to have a chit chat with that person and ask them what about the house sold them. Of course those houses should be priced in the price range you are thinking of for your property. 

I am an architectural designer and where I am people like huge open spaces, high ceilings, cathedral ceilings work well. The living areas should be open and provide an easy flow for walking from one area to another. Huge windows to bring in plenty of light and provide inspiring views. Functionality at ever turn. The master suite should be awesome with an office space,You might think of having  a swimming pool, a nice court yard and bbq area, definitely provide a well defined entertainment area inside and outside, perhaps a spa with a bar area, redwood decks even a tennis court but you can take that as an option. Water, water, water, landscaped streams, water fountains, enough parking space, both covered and uncovered for about 4 or 5 cars. 

We all know that its the woman that make the decision about what to buy so I would listen to what the women suggest on hear. I always bring in a woman consultant to stage a house and recommend finishes, features, and fixtures. 

Try to think what could be a wow ! factor for your particular house, Would it be views, landscaping, entertainment features, a chef's kitchen, guest quarters etc etc, 

What would make a buyer feel you built that house just for them?

"I signed a contract to sell a property. You mean I am expected to know what I am selling too? Oh that's going to cost you more. What? you want to to make it presentable ? That's really going to cost you more. You also want me to make sure its safe? I think its against the law for me to do that" heheheheheheh:)

I run into this all the time especially with properties that have been on the market for a while. The longer the property has been on the market the less the agents or broker will know about it. 

They say , " there is a sucker born every minute". I guess the brokers and agents are just waiting around until the sucker comes in wanting to buy a building from them so they can get their full commission. 

I think you are missing something in your understanding of what wholesaling is all about. First the end buyer is relying on you to negotiate a price to purchase the house at a significant discount plus also provide the end buyer with a reliable analysis of the property providing a reliable Market or ARV ( After repair value). They are also relying on you to produce accurate repair figures so they can judge if they can make a profit after purchase and repair. Maybe the seller would like it if they can pay someone, you or anyone else only $1,000.00 to find them a buyer. However the buyer will not want to buy the house at market prices. You cannot sell the house for 2 reasons.

1) you do not own the house or 

2) you are not licensed to act in the capacity of an agent for the seller.

What you are in essence doing is selling your right to purchase the property at your negotiated discount price but you are not selling the house just your right to buy it. 

For example: A house is worth $120,000.00 on the market in good condition but the house you have under contract is not in good condition so therefore not worth $120K but could be if repaired. The end buyer or your cash buyer would like to take advantage of buying the house and doing the repairs so he or she can sell it at full market price if they can do that at a lower purchase price that makes it worth their while especially if they will be paying cash.

If the house is in need of repairs the banks or the usual mortgage lenders may not qualify the house as acceptable collateral for a loan. Even those that sell turn key properties will usually need to offer their houses at some discount in order to get a cash buyer.

Its all relative friends. 

The guy that made a billion dollars selling oranges will say growing and selling oranges is the best thing in the world

The guy that made a killing selling sugar cane will say sugar is where it's at

The guys that made Billions in the stock market  will tell you stocks are end game

The guys that made good with appreciation............. well guess

The guys  that are doing good with cash flow will tell you that is the best strategy there is

I just bought a gold mine for $800K with $25 million dollars of gold reserves what should I say then ?

hehehehehehe:) 

like I said its all relative, However real estate is a good investment over all for many people all around the country. 

@Malcom Flenoury,

My thoughts and desires to get people together are similar. However have in mind that the SEC is watching and pass everything you say especially publicly to your attorney first , just a suggestion.

@Arlen Chou

No Arlen there is nothing wrong with partnerships. There can be and are many advantages to partnering. I meant to infer that to invest comfortably in the San Francisco Bay Area one may need to consider partnering for the simple fact that the prices of properties are so high that it is better to have others to spread the risks with and to more easily come up with the required capital to purchase, and manage more expensive real estate. 

What  I wanted to point out by asking you why you have a partner was to point out that it is not impossible to buy, hold or otherwise have high priced properties but that the San Francisco Bay Area Market does pose some challenges to the start up real estate investor

and one may think along the lines of partnering with others in order to overcome the challenges. You seem to think there is some personal reason I may have to discredit you or others who are working in the San Francisco Bay Area in real estate but there is no such a thing contemplated or desired. 

I wanted to direct the discussion to methods of participating in the San Francisco Bay Area and partnering may be one such a method where one might find it difficult to go it alone especially for start up real estate investors. 

Please recall back to the day when we started seeing allot of TICs coming into existence and that was due to the fact that people found it difficult to buy properties alone and decided that buying a property in unison or by pooling their resources together it was possible. 

My true motive and desire is to help others be able to participate in the San Francisco Bay Area market that for whatever reason may find it difficult to break into but if one thinks on it and hears out suggestions by those that have done it perhaps they could benefit from ideas which have been tried and proven by those already in this market. 

Perhaps I should have made this clear from the start so that you or others would not take offense but understand that is might be more helpful for those wishing to understand the San Francisco Bay Area Market and wish to break into it. 

Sorry if I have caused you or others discomfort of any kind, that has never been my intention or desire and I do not see where anyone could or would benefit from an argument or apparent conflict of opinions. 

I mean to promote the spirit of cooperation within the BiggerPockets community that is all there it to it. 

By the way thank you for all of your contribution and participation in the community. I for one appreciate you and everyone else that contributes to our discussions and to inquires from and with all those interested. 

Maybe I will take this as an indicator that I need to work on my communication skills so that other people will not be made uncomfortable by conversing with me of the subject of real estate investing. 

I commend you for your effort and dedication and congratulations on all of your accomplishments. You are one of my heros

I would first check with and discuss this matter with your municipality or authority having jurisdiction. You might be in for some challenges as there is no real established method of zoning for mobile home parks in many municipalities due to the nature of mobile home categorizations as a vehicle more than standard housing units. There are also restrictions in place to prohibit the expansion of existing mobile home parks. I would start with my municipal authority before devoting too much time and effort to plan a mobile home park. 

Remember one thing to always keep in mind. That even if your do a great job of your figures it will all come down to whether your house is in an area where people are buying or an area where people will want to live. Nothing is going to happen if the house does not sell or does not rent. This is one of the hardest factors of analyzing a property. It is also one of the first things you should think about. 

When dealing with a fire damaged building especially if you have no experience with fire damaged buildings first picture this in your mind. Which would you rater deal with? An empty building lot or an empty building lot with 20 tons of toxic materials?

When people see fire damaged buildings the first thing that come to mind is how cheap they should be able to buy such a property. Remember the demo will not be free even if someone offered you the property free. Could you be looking at $30K worth of demo, special permits, asbestos and lead based paint remediation. There are toxins present at almost every single fire damaged building. 

Did the owner have insurance and has the insurance company already settled with the owner?

Let us say for the sake of argument that the owners had no fire insurance and they are suffering a total loss of their residence. You are having communication with them so that means they must be living somewhere and obviously they are not living in the home with so much damage. 

Proceed slowly and make plenty of notes during your due diligence. Ask potential buyers if they would be willing to consider a building with extensive fire damage before getting it under contract.