All Forum Posts by: Hank Fields

Hi Brigg,

SoCal is a great market if you can find a deal.  We tried to get a Venice property with another investor about 2 months ago, and we just wouldn't allow ourselves to go over a certain price point, and the selling price eventually went @ $350K north of our absolute max.  It was a value-add property, and if you can find a good value-add property in Los Angeles, that is probably your best bet because prices are so high here to really make it worth it, unless you can put in a sizeable down payment (I.e. 30-40% down, and I wouldn't want to do that on a 2-4 unit.)  I am still looking in LA, but I have started looking elsewhere like Texas and North Carolina.  I am familiar with those two areas because I am from Texas (Houston), and I lived in Charlotte, NC for 5 years while I went to college.

FYI...throw the 1% rule out the window when looking for properties in LA...

"Just about anything) on the Westside near the beach is gonna be a great long term investment, but there are other areas to look at as well.

Hi Jasmin,

I am looking for anything from 2-4 units up to 20+ units.  I would prefer one larger property of anywhere from 5-20 units as opposed to a bunch of smaller 2-4's, but if there's a good deal on some 2-4's, I would certainly do it.  

Has anyone here bought any multi-families in or around the Charlotte, NC area?  I am looking at that market right now.  I lived in Charlotte for 5 years while going to college, but I now live in Los Angeles.  I am looking out of state because it is extremely difficult to find any deals that cash flow here without putting a massive down payment on the property.  I am looking at Charlotte, Gastonia, Hickory, Statesville, Concord.  Does anyone here own any multifamilies or live in Charlotte, NC and have any good info regarding the different areas in and around Charlotte.

I am a property manager in Los Angeles, and I don't get to keep any late fees for delinquent tenants. I routinely have to post 3-day notices, call delinquent tenants, etc. Its part of the job. I don't think that I should be entitled to late fees. After all the owner has to pay his bills and when the tenant does not pay on time, it puts pressure on the owner's finances.

Aristotle Kumpis, yes, you are correct.  The rental laws here do favor residents.

Here's a great read on the state of affairs in the rental market in Los Angeles.  I am a property manager in LA, and I have seen rents skyrocket here in the last 3 years.  Los Angeles is one of the most least affordable places to live in the country.  

Here's the link:

http://projects.scpr.org/longreads/high-rent-few-options/

Here in CA with our company, we do not take any lump sum up front. It sounds enticing, but can give you trouble later on, especially if the tenant is a bad tenant - loud, damaging unit, etc. when it comes to a possible eviction or serving a 60-day notice. You could have her give you post-dates checks for each month, and just deposit them each month. Just an idea.

I live in Studio City. I can't make on this one because I have a 6-month old and Thursday's are my night to watch him. But I would be interested in future meet-ups.

Here's a way to combat potentially bad tenants: do a rental history verification for the previous 5 years, and don't rent to anyone with an eviction.

In the Los Angeles, you will have a very tough time finding anything that fits 1%.  

That being said, I think the point of the discussion is to figure out what works locally in your market, and use that as a metric for scanning.