All Forum Posts by: John Carlo Gallo

I am working on remodeling a place in Irvine for my inlaws.  We need to redo the flooring and the kitchen.  Anyone have any good contractors they can recommend for this type of work?  Would really appreciate it!

Thanks for sharing Karen.  This is a good article.  I am in commercial construction and have seen a real rise in the number of hotel projects that are starting to get off the ground.  Its great to see and an exciting time to be a builder in Los Angeles right now.

Guys, wanted to see if anyone had any advice on what costs per SF are for new home building in Southern California. (Orange County, Los Angeles)

I built homes years ago in the Pittsburgh area and for the last 7 years I have been really heavily in commercial construction doing projects all over the place.  So the costs are much higher and now I am all screwed up on the residential side.  

I was hoping to see if anyone could give me any advice on what they are paying cost per sf for a new home building in the Southern California area so I could run some proformas.  

@Dan B. 

Ok great, well just keep me posted if I can provide any advice or help to you. WARNING, once you start to get into it, you will become addicted, haha! Also, check out the REIA. They have a free event coming up I think on the 14th. It will be good for you attend and if you do, make sure you stop and introduce yourself.

@George Maka 

thanks for the advice.  I am going to look into exploring this idea.  This way we dont have to pay the transactional costs of buying/selling and can also look at the long term appreciation of the irvine market.  Would love to connect with you on what kind of wholesaling deals you do.  do you work in So Cal? 

@Aaron Mazzrillo 

thanks for the advice Aaron.  I am going to run the numbers and will keep you posted.  Appreciate it! 

Hey Jason, I have been a developer in the past where we took loans from the bank and paid them off.  Also, I have been involved as  the contractor in many development deals all over the country.  I dont know the specifics of what you are trying to do exactly, but if you are new to this, I could give you some insight about my situations and how they worked out.  

Welcome to BP Dan. I am from Signal Hill. BP is a great resource. Listen to the Podcasts you will learn a ton. Also, consider joining or attending local REIA LA meetings (real estate investors association). They have a ton of great resources, meetings, learning opps, networking, etc. I joined recently and love it. Where do you want to invest? What type of deals do you want to do?

@Ali Boone Ali, You fly planes too?  That is pretty dang cool.  I wanted to fly helicopters.  That sounds neat.  Yeah signal hill is surrounded by long beach on 3 sides.  Its a nice place, it was great to watch fireworks all over so cal last night that is for sure. Hey would you ever be willing to meet up, I envy you that you are doing real estate full time and would love to pick your brain sometime!  Let me know.  Take care!  

Ok, so this is a property that a family member owns and I am trying to help them make the best decision.  

They bought a condo in Irvine in a very nice area in 2001 for around $200k. Its a two bedroom 1.5 bath. HOA fees are 325 per month. They have it completely paid off, so all rent is coming in their pocket right now. Its an awesome neighborhood that has its own little lake, play areas for kids, green space, etc. Irvine has amazing schools, high quality tenants, etc.

Their tenants are moving out soon.  Rents in the area for this type of home can be around 1800 to 1900 per month.  So great cash flow right now.

The kitchen does need remodeled, so we would probably put some money into that if we kept it.

Now the home according to Zillow is worth around $460k.  

Does it make sense to deal the home and purchase a 4-plex say in Corona or another area?  Does it make sense to buy more in other areas?  Say turn this 1 home into 5homes around the $80k out of state.  Or leverage all and have downpayments for multiple ones all over the place.  

Either way its a great situation to be in, but just wanted to get some people's thoughts on what the best strategy could be to maximize returns. 

@Jeremy Hauben Glad you finally took my advice and joined.

@Karin DiMauro Please don't use Jeremy for any of your projects. I need him back in LA to build this Hotel in Hollywood. Then a few Hotels in the Caribbean. I figure if I can cut all his revenue streams off in CT he will be forced to come back. Thanks again for your help.

@Ali Boone Jeremy literally calls me every day to remind me how we missed that property in Hermosa. The property 3 houses down was on million dollar listing... I guess we're just not ballers yet. Also Ali, once I checked out your website, I was like, yes I remember this girl! When I was buying my first property a few months ago I was reading a lot on your blog. Love your story and advice. Small world here! Are you a member of the REIA here in LA? Its a great resource that I have really enjoyed.