All Forum Posts by: Hal Jones

Quote from @Mark Frattini:

@Matthew Cervoni

I would check out the restaurants in Little Italy. Mona Lisa for Italian cold cuts. If you're looking for something quick but not fast food The Kebob Shop is pretty good. For fancy Mexican and amazing tacos check out Puesto. If you like fried chicken and chicken sandwiches look into The Crack Shack. I'm a huge fan of Tribute Pizza in North Park. There's also Basic Bar and Pizza which offers more of a coal fired New Haven style pizza. If you're into desserts Extraordinary Desserts is good and very popular. 

Been out of pocket for a bit so sorry for the late reply, but Matthew nailed it. I’ll double tap on the Crack Shack. It’s really good for fried chicken or chicken sandwiches. If you have a car, I think Imperial Beach has some fantastic Tacos and one of our favorites is Don Panchos (but it’s out of the way from Downtown). Lots of great Mexican options. 

I was excited to find out BPCON is in San Diego this year since we are currently stationed here, and that allows me to be able to attend! 

If anyone would like some insight or help from someone living here let me know. Happy to provide restaurant or location recommendations or anything else. 

The one thing that’s fairly close to downtown that I’d recommend going to if you have the time is the zoo. The San Diego Zoo is by far the best I’ve ever been to and worth every penny. 

Looking forward to meeting some of you and hearing lots of awesome experiences and stories!

Quote from @Ben Matiella:

Hello all, I have been learning about different real estate investing strategies and am most interested in househacking a small multifamily (2 to 4 units).  I want to ask if anyone on here has been able to successfully do this in San Diego county?  I am not sure how many of these property types (specifically quads) are in supply and SD being a competitive market am not sure if anyone has actually been able to cashflow positive on a property of this type?  

Any thoughts on the matter would be appreciated!

 Hey Ben, 

My wife and I recently sold our househack here in San Diego because we are getting stationed in VA the end of the year. We hacked a duplex not a quad though. It worked out very well and we made quite a return. The deals are out there you just need to k ow the market, be ready, and act quickly if it fits your criteria when it comes up.

Happy to discuss details of it helps. Good luck on the search!

Quote from @Twana Rasoul:

@Nicholas Jackson The important thing here is that you get started...the first step is the most difficult but certainly worthwhile.  House hacking is the best way to get started and there always will be some sort of sacrifice on property type, location, condition, etc...can't have it all, especially for the first property.  I initially purchased in areas I could afford locally in San Diego to get in the game.  Find a local agent in your market that has lots of experience with multifamily to help you.  Looking off market sounds good but it doesn't always mean that is where the deals are or if those properties are right for you, especially if they need lots of work.  I don't recommend newer investors start off purchasing properties that need a lot of work.

Twana, I couldn’t agree more. This is great advice. My househack was also in SD so having to find an entry point in an expensive market just takes some work. 

Quote from @Nicholas Jackson:

Quote from @Hal Jones:

Hey Nicholas, house hacking is certainly an amazing way to start. Just last week my wife and I sold our first house hack in San Diego, which is a notoriously high priced market. We ran into some of what you are experiencing when we were looking. What I recommend is still looking at those C class neighborhoods you are seeing already, but dial in your criteria to those neighborhoods in the path of progress. Look for the multi that has homes around it starting to be flipped or reno’d but hasn’t quite overtaken the area. You can usually tell which way things are going if you keep and eye out and talk to some investors/agents in your area that know what’s up.  That way you’ll get in before it does, and then benefit from the increase in profits down the road. 

That’s what we did and it really paid off. Good luck, my friend! 

 Thank you for this advice it is really helpful. What were your considerations in terms of safety when looking at these neighborhoods and what were some issues you might have encountered during your time living there? 

 Personally, whatever makes you feel comfortable. Visit during the day and also at night. I'd check it out during the week and the weekend, then you can have a decent feel for it. There are also crime maps and sex offender locations that you can look to see in the area if you feel you need more data.

Never really encountered much issues personally. Multifamily living tends to be louder, imo, with more parties and people out making noise/playing music etc. I think we've heard a gunshot here and there, but never any issues with us in our units. Just feel it out or talk to locals.

Hey Nicholas, house hacking is certainly an amazing way to start. Just last week my wife and I sold our first house hack in San Diego, which is a notoriously high priced market. We ran into some of what you are experiencing when we were looking. What I recommend is still looking at those C class neighborhoods you are seeing already, but dial in your criteria to those neighborhoods in the path of progress. Look for the multi that has homes around it starting to be flipped or reno’d but hasn’t quite overtaken the area. You can usually tell which way things are going if you keep and eye out and talk to some investors/agents in your area that know what’s up.  That way you’ll get in before it does, and then benefit from the increase in profits down the road. 

That’s what we did and it really paid off. Good luck, my friend! 

@Chris Svendsen I couldn’t agree more. Great idea! I actually haven’t done the shower curtain previously because I just haven’t thought of it. But we make everything a little nicer than those around us and charge higher rents. We are also very selective. I find that combination has attracted the best kind of tenants that are not only very happy to be there but treat the unit like it’s their own. They usually end up taking us for helping them. And I have to remind them they are helping US! 🤣 I love that Michael Scott win-win-win.

Side note: When I was in the car business in college I found that the clients who were the happiest were always the ones I made the most money on. I find the same is true in REI mostly. If they will nickel and dime you prior to a contract, don't think that same attitude goes away later.

My wife and I just closed on a duplex in Imperial Beach. We used a VA Loan and are househacking, but it would cash flow even if we didn't. Because we are saving about $1,450 a month our cash on cash is 174%. BUT even if we didn't live in one side and used it only as an investment property it would still have a cash flow of $750/mo ($325/door) and a 6% cash in cash. But I've been studying the IB markets for months. Good deals don't stay on the market for long here and we offered 7k above asking price the first day it was on the market. The only way it worked was that we already knew what was a good deal and what the rent would be.

You can find good deals here, but it just takes more work and being willing to pull the trigger quickly.