All Forum Posts by: Jacob Garcia

Awesome thanks for the insight. 

Hello, Bigger pocket members.

I'm currently looking for my first multifamily investment property in or near LA county in California.

There is a vast amount of places to invest and wanted to start narrowing down on some hot counties/cities near LA county to start running the numbers on and do my first real estate investment.

The expected outcome of the post

• *Narrow down on potential cities that you preferer and recommend to a starter investor like myself.
• *Potential multi-family home 2 - 4 units but very open to recommendations of what has worked for you in the past.
• *Build my network of more experienced individuals.
• *Eager to also help you in some way shape or form why searching and learning for my investment property

A little background about myself. Finished reading the Bigger pockets book "The Multifamily Millionaire" with four friends and myself. We want to reach the point of financial independence and be able to build generational wealth. We believe that real estate is the door that will take us there.

@Nate Bell from your experience what would be considered turn-key ready and any cities in LA that have been good to you or maybe, some awesome stories that you have from buying turn-key ready investments?

Quote from @Brian Garlington:

I rent to carefully screens Abode and Section 8 tenants because they ones I personally screen are what I look for…

No smoking of any kind

No dangerous breed animals 

No felonies or evictions ever

I also look at their car when they drive up…I had someone drive up in a BMW and he told me he also had a Harley Davidson. After a little more conversation I realized he was gaming the system. I did not rent to him.

if the inside of their car looks clean then it’s a pretty good indicator that my property will look like that 3 months from now.


Additionally, there is no rent control restriction on tenants that have their rent subsidized by the government….. and that is the definition of a Section 8 and Abode tenant.

Guaranteed rent and no rent control 😉

@Brian Garlington 

It sounds like you have a very thorough screening process which is what makes the deal work. It is great to know that it is definitely an option as you are currently practicing this method. Is there anything you did to your properties to make them stand out a little more in order to be able to charge more than average rent? Anything you might recommend to focus on when going through the rehab part of the BRRRR strategy?

Luckily I am doing this with 4 other friends and with four heads I'm sure we can tackle our first BRRRR. I was trying to find something within driving distance for my first investment and wanted to do specifically a BRRRR to have some value add and hopefully be able to recoup my initial investment and continue with this strategy. My first hurdle is narrowing down on potential cities in LA to start trimming down the vast amount of cities near me. Out of personal experience or word of mouth do you know of any such cities where I can start doing my due diligence on finding a property? Any useful insight or pitfalls that you think a newbie can use to my benefit would be great.

Thanks for your reply Nate Bell

Hello,

Trying to do my first BRRRR and was wondering how you went about picking your first city to start looking for a BRRRR. Would love to hear your personal experience on doing your first BRRRR as well as any tips and tricks for a newbie like myself.

Quote from @Raju Balakrishnan:

Quote from @Jacob Garcia:

Quote from @Raju Balakrishnan:

Oakland is  a reasonably big market, you will find good & Diverse inventory also. But Oakland is very heterogeneous in terms of crime, and there is a lot of variance in cap rates also from neighborhood to neighborhood. So do you homework to understand Oakland well. Other bay area cities are smaller, less variance in crime, and uniformly low caps with less inventory per city.  

Financing will vary a log depending on whether you are looking commercial or less than four units. 

@Raju Balakrishnan 

I agree! Oakland is a big city and I am definitely taking some time to do my research. What are some resources you have found useful to help you navigate through neighborhoods and understand their diversities? 

 Trulia crime maps will be great resource, block by block, Generally opportunity zone map will give some idea of low income areas. Generally, generating a google map and adding layers on top of it to map out areas you will never want to go, you are ok with, and you will love will help you to screen properties fast. The map below is not very upated but gives some high level idea of rents (from a zumper blog). 

 @raju balakrishnan

Thanks for all this great information! I will definitely take a look and start breaking it down. What methods do you currently use to figure out what areas fall within your criteria. In other words what makes an area desirable or not based on your preference?

Quote from @Brian Garlington:

@Jacob Garcia

You and some others may not like this....but your NOI should NOT be based just on....what a neighborhood rents for. I have 1 bd/1ba units in duplexes that I rent in the Elmhurt area for $1,933/mo......although the above chart would lead one to believe that is not necessarily likely. Northwest Hills the "typical rent" may be $2,400/mo....and those properties probably cost about 2.5x to 4x what a place costs in Elmhurst.......I also strongly favor renting out to Section 8 and Abode Program participants as well and that money is guaranteed. My NOI on my rentals in C and D neighborhoods works really well in Oakland and Concord because of how I personally screen the tenants.

@Brian Garlington 

You offer a very great point and I 100% agree. What are some things you feel have worked best for you to be able to achieve higher than average rent for your properties?   Have you seen any major cons to renting to section 8 and the Abode Program? Do you tend to find it challenging with the rental pricing caps and higher amounts of income being set aside for repairs and maintenance?

Quote from @Brent Tarnow:

@Jacob Garcia

Hey man, good luck and welcome to investing in the Bay Area.  Chris Mason is a great guy and he'd take care of you, but if he doesn't work out I'm happy to introduce you to a guy I've used for most of my small multifamily deals.  

I'd also be open to a conversation about the different neighborhoods and approaches if you are interested in swapping ideas.  I'm in the market for my next deal and putting heads together is usually productive.  

@Brent Tarnow 

That referral would be great! I am always open to reaching out to knew people and creating those relationships. I am very interested in taking you up on your offer! What form of contact works best for you?

Hello, Bigger pocket members.

I'm currently looking for my first multifamily investment property in or near LA county in California.

There is a vast amount of places to invest and wanted to start narrowing down on some hot counties/cities near LA county to start running the numbers on and do my first real estate investment.

The expected outcome of the post

• *Narrow down on potential cities that you preferer and recommend to a starter investor like myself.
• *Potential multi-family home 2 - 4 units but very open to recommendations of what has worked for you in the past.
• *Build my network of more experienced individuals.
• *Eager to also help you in some way shape or form why searching and learning for my investment property

A little background about myself. Finished reading the Bigger pockets book "The Multifamily Millionaire" with four friends and myself. We want to reach the point of financial independence and be able to build generational wealth. We believe that real estate is the door that will take us there.