All Forum Posts by: Houston Garcia

There aren't any I recommend in East Bay since I haven't been to any/know of any out there but I'm sure there's a few on Meetup. I host one in SF, and there's a few that are hosted downtown pretty regularly - just be careful of people trying to sell you solar panels or trying to get you to invest in land in Costa Rica and whatnot...

The one that is hosted in Milpitas is supposed to be very high-quality but I haven't made it out there yet! 

@Ian Kemp It's going to be nearly impossible in the Bay Area to flip a property without any capital or financing due to how competitive the market is here. 

I would try to find an investor (perhaps connect on here or at a local Meetup) who would be willing to mentor you and where you could work for them and learn the ropes while you acquire capital to fund your ventures.

@Samuel Gardener I agree with @Keong Kam and @Amit M. - if you can, keep the home. I would do a bit more research on the rental price ($3,400 does seem low for a SFH in the Campbell) or try to refi/pull equity out.

I'd be wary of hiring a property manager. From my experience, most of property managers in the Bay Area are pretty useless & do a completely subpar job - especially for managing a SFH. Get a great tenant in, manage it yourself, and save yourself the 7%. If you decide to rent it out, I'd be happy to help you market it as a rental for free.

And as Amit mentioned, most realtors will tell you to sell now. Don't listen to that advice - that is in a realtor's best interest. The market is always a bit quiet right all of August (right before Labor Day), and between Thanksgiving-New Year's. In this case, I'd would personally be inclined to keep the home as a long-term play. There's barely any new inventory or construction in Silicon Valley. There will almost certainly be future appreciation. If you do sell though, avoid Nov-Dec, and wait for the Spring market. 

 If you're in the area - the more the merrier :) 

Come out and hear from a local investor who completed his first out-of-state investment, a 98-unit apartment in Phoenix, Arizona. This event is perfect if you're new to real estate as we'll discuss various ways of investing, including passively investing in other people's deals. Meet like-minded individuals whether you’re still fine tuning your strategy or working towards your first deal.

How to find us:

Go to the lobby of 425 Market Street and tell them you are here for the Meetup @ Suite 900.

Agenda:

- Networking, Introductions
- Speaker Share-Out, Q&A
- Networking

Topics:

- Teaming up with others to invest
- Researching and investing in multifamily out-of-state
- Raising money to take down larger properties

About the speaker: Tommy Hoang is a local investor who focuses on multifamily out-of-state. His company, First Chair Capital, recently closed on their first property, a 98-unit apartment complex in Phoenix, AZ.

About the host: Houston Garcia is a local real estate agent and investor who grew up in San Francisco. He's closed a number of properties both for clients and for his personal investments.

The estimated repair budget and ARV look a bit off to me. What rehab work will (or in this market "can") be done on this property for $150k that will bump up the equity so much?

Labor and material costs in the Bay Area are on average $200-$250 per SqFt for brand new construction, so that's where I'm at a loss - even for a rehab of 3k SqFt, it shouldn't be that cheap. A decent bathroom will cost $35k each minimum, and kitchen at least $75k for a home of this size for "average" quality. Otherwise, it looks like a pretty detailed analysis from the calculator.

@Stephen Chu - Amongst the real estate community in SF/Greater Bay Area, they're known for being amongst the worst in consistency. They never close on-time, and they always make mistakes on paperwork. The same can be said for the other "big-box" banks such as Citi or Chase, but Wells generally performs the best out of the four. Plus, as you probably know - the rates are usually teaser rates until you lock them in.

In my experience, its generally better to go with a relationship-based bank such as First Republic or a local credit union for HELOCs. Granted, if you have a great relationship/high deposits with one of the Big 4, you may get a decent discount on rates. 

Welcome @Scott Kobayashi! Glad to see a fellow Bay Area native still here! :)

@Gregg Heminger Congrats, may it be the first of many purchases!

Chris, I'd have to agree with Dave on this. While most agents would tell you to sell, I would highly recommend holding onto your home if you are definitely planning to return in 3-5 years. Per data reports, the market in SJ (and South Bay overall) is actually even a bit more competitive than SF. With development at an all-time low throughout the Bay Area, I don't see prices softening significantly in the near future.

I would look into getting a cash out refi on your property and purchasing a cashflowing multifamily as Jason and Calvin have suggested. If you need a referral for an incredible lender to pull equity out, let me know - I have just the guy (he's done about 4 of them in the past week in South Bay).