All Forum Posts by: Jacob Repreza

@Ryan Maguire we wholesale but for yourself as a newbie starting out, wholesaling can get overwhelming if you don't have some sort of  real estate foundation and you will have to use funds for marketing , dialers, post cards etc etc 

Another alternative is to simply find someone to partner with. Sure it's a little more difficult now depending on your area and lockdown/ group restrictions but still possible. 

Hello @Rachel Cutler! There's a dozens and dozens of possible rental markets so the easiest way is always to see if you have any friends or family or any sort of connection to one of these rental markets so you have some familiarity. If you don't, then you can look up some states and laws like tenants rights, appreciation, rental rates etc etc but you're going to find several that find your criteria. At some point you will just have to pick one that interests you. There's no perfect market out there. Look for your price point and choose somewhere you wouldn't mind visiting because you will have to take a couple trips a year. Hope this helps! 

We're here in Socal but invest out in Cleveland. We even a hosted a meetup the second to last time we actually went out there but due to the coronavirus I didn't make the trip out there last month with my partners and they just went to visit our properties. Right now i'd say bigger pockets will be your best friend to make connections and then possibly meeting up from there! 

@Matt Gigli welcome to BP! We're actually investors in Cleveland and the answer to this question is always the same in that it comes down to risk tolerance. California has appreciation, you're nearby, familiar with the area, higher prices, but strict tenant friendly laws. Midwest has lower prices, unknown areas, slight to no appreciation depending on area but very landlord friendly laws. 

Another suggestion would be to search for previous posts about this similar topic. You'll be able to see every single possible argument for or against investing in Cali as opposed to out of state because believe me you're not the first to have this dilemma. 

It seems like you still have a lot of questions in regards to what would happen in certain situations or about the markets themselves. I'd say first make sure you have your education out the way. Learn and go through everything you can here. After that when you're deciding a market I think some of the golden rules are basically just 

1) Landlord friendly vs tenant friendly 

2) price point/cash flow 

3) taxes 

After that it's honestly almost anyone's guess. Every city will have some positive aspect to it. If you have no connection to any of the cities then I also advocate for a city you wouldn't mind visiting. You WILL have to visit at least a couple times a year to make sure everything is good so why not make it somewhere you like. 

I chose Cleveland since my partner already had experience there but there's so many other cities out there that have opportunity. 

@Jon Schwartz beat me to the punch! 

But I would just like to piggyback a little more on what he said. First off glad to see a neighbor on here, we're located in newport beach so you're not too far away. I will say that you won't really see multifamilies in irvine, you usually find those type of properties in the older areas on orange county like santa ana, fullerton, or along the coast where you're dealing with a much higher cost. You will find much more availability of multifamilies in Los Angeles but just make sure to decide where in LA you'd like to live as safety and environment can differ from street to street and community to community rather quickly. 

Also, it was touched on in the last comment but there's a very very good chance you will not see positive cash flow, at least not until you move out in the future. Prices are much too high and your down-payment will be far too low for it to end in positive cash flow. Now once you move out in the future, you'll more than likely see some cash flow and you'll have appreciation to help. 

One thing that hasn't been discussed will be the eviction moratorium, rent control, and california just in general being a very tenant friendly state. That is just something you absolutely have to keep in mind, ESPECIALLY if you're going to be living in the property as well. This is not to scare because a large portion of the risk can be avoided by good tenant selection but it's still something to consider. 

We personally invest in Cleveland where we rehab and hold or flip. There's positives and negatives to each scenario so I'm just making sure you see the whole spectrum. 

@Account Closed Hi Tom! We have a few properties that just closed and I would love to connect you with our project manager to see if you can assist us on any of the rehabs we have going on if you're interested? 

That's great! Where in Cleveland. That's where we are as well. We have a single family in cleveland heights that we have rented out, flip in south euclid we're finishing up, and just purchased a duplex in south euclid, duplex in cleveland heights and another flip in Cleveland heights. It's been a very busy few months 

Team will be the biggest point of advice from me. Are you close to the area? If you are it'll be even easier. If not then I would suggest taking a trip out there and checking it out in person. Know your streets and neighborhoods and get a reliable contractor as a bad one can ruin even the best of deals. Good luck! 

Welcome @Kenneth Alldredge ! Nice to see another CSUF alum and finance major as well. Network as much as you can and pay attention to all of the info being placed here on a daily basis. Good luck with everything!