All Forum Posts by: Henry LiChi

@Sam Josh I don't think Bay Area is overvalued, personally.  It reflects the jobs available here.  There are just a lot of people that make a lot of money here and the homes reflect such demand.  They can't build homes fast enough to meet up with demand.  Yes, some people may say why is there so much homes on the market then, if demands are high?  People with money demand upgraded move-in ready homes.  There are so many cash buyers out here that any decent home gets bought within a weekend of open house.  Time is money in Silicon Valley and buyers do not have time to do the rehab themselves.  

To reiterate, Bay Area is not overvalued. It is expensive, but it purely reflects demand and jobs available.  Our TOD properties are getting sold at $1,200-1,600 per SF, but that's typical to high profile buyers at tech/medical companies that make 8 figures a year and their typical bonuses can cash buy these types of properties.  Right now, any property along South Bay near ECR in a transit oriented area is selling for about 5million per acre and developers will tear whatever is sitting on the lot down to build high density apartments to keep up with demand.

Sam, you live in Sunnyvale so you know all about the huge tech companies around South Bay that entice fresh graduates with six figure salaries to start with huge bonuses and incentives.

@Nick Robertson  A deal is a deal big or small, but that comes with credibility and experience.  You won't be able to finance that traditionally, which leads you to the hard money side or friends...  It would be tough to get that amount as a new investor with little to no experience.  The lender would want to see your portfolio and track record, you would also have to provide skin in the game.  That's just my honest opinion, as someone that has been on both sides of lender and 'lendee.'

Sounds like the Bay Area.  Everything rehabbed to decent quality gets sold 10-20% over asking and within a week on the market.  I would find an agent to do the work for you.  A good agent should be able to find recently purchased distressed properties and contact the buyer to see if they are planning to flip it, then notify them that you would like to make a deal to buy it before it even hits the market.  You could do all this yourself, but it is time consuming.  Agents in these higher priced markets are willing to hustle cause they know with each sale, it's a five figure commission.

@Donielle Buie

With a 1800-2200 SF house, you will most likely not spend 300-400k unless you want very high end material and in that case, you would still have extra to spurge on "unnecessary" luxuries.  Keep in mind a 300k full gut rehab on a 2200 SF house is $136 per sf remodel, that's pretty darn close to a complete rebuild (single level, standard quality type V construction build)

@Donielle Buie

I don't know the Massachusetts area, but I am sure there is a lot of flippers on here willing to work with you.  I would just doe your own due diligence on their track record.  What is making you choose this particular route instead of just finding a move-in ready property from the start?  Another scenario could be to buy a fixer property and find a design build company that would be willing to design it to your needs and have their own contractors that handle everything from start to finish.

The spread for a full gut renovation is very project based.  Lots of factors can be considered that will give a huge range.  It all depends who you know (contractor, supplier, and designer), timeframe (rushed or is there some flexibility), and quality.  With contractors, it is very true that you get what you pay for.  Particularly in my region where every decent licensed contractor is booked up for jobs for months to a full year ahead, leaving less desirable contractors doing subpar jobs while inflating estimates.

@Donielle Buie I would roughly ballpark $300-400k "Full" gut renovation to include a property that's at least 3,500 SF and would be of above mid range to high range quality.  Just a very rough figure based on mid to high end renovation cost per square foot, and based on my previous flips.  There are a few companies out there that flip to clients that already agreed on a price and this is what they specialize in.  Generally to do that, you would have to have a pretty good track record and quality that attracts such clients.  It allows the client to give some design input while the seller/flipper has less stress about worrying if the property will in fact sell for what the plan to list it for.  And yes there would be a signed contract that generally includes a healthy deposit and loss of it, if the contract is not completed due to backing out of the deal.

You should be able to get it permitted if you do some as-built drawings and if the lot is zoned for more than the 4 units.  But a simple call to the city will get you the answer.

@Helen Zhang

Less worried about Headquarter #2. Would be a jackpot for me if they do win but they are actually building two distribution centers (one in Euclid and one in North Randall).  With these two distribution centers, it will employ 3-4000+ people.  

One word is going to change Cleveland, "Amazon."

Sorry to hear about your grandfather's passing.  I have spent about 6 years in San Diego and still have a lot of friends who live down there.  Many of whom are realtors that are killing it in the market down there.  So is this a multi family?  Not sure if you meant other units as in other apartment units or bedrooms. What part of San diego?