All Forum Posts by: Jeremy Davis

Joe, I see you have quite a bit of experience here on bigger pockets, so I feel dumb asking. But do you know what wholesaling is? You're contacting sellers that don't have their home in a condition to actually list it for sale, or they need money fast and dont have the time to wait... It's called "distressed properties and motivated sellers" for a reason ;)

@Bill B. I'm absolutely trying not argue with anyone on here when it comes to Real estate, I'm a novice, I'll admit that, but I will say that I have seen different numbers... "A total of 701,000 jobs were lost in March, according to the US Department of Labor’s monthly report, released yesterday. While no sector was immune, restaurants and bars accounted for 60%, or 419,000, of the jobs cut"...

Now when I read that nationally, 60% of the jobs cut were hospitality based, I made a GUESS that Vegas would have had a higher percentage based purely on it's reliance on tourism. 

Maybe the fact that I am dead center effected by it, that my social media is based around it, I perhaps have a different view. I exist on the side that says this shutdown was stupid, and should have lasted a week at most. This shutdown was about giving our medical facilities a chance to ramp up service and equipment for what could have been a large hit in respiratory cases. We did after week 1, the fact that this has gone for two months now, just astounds me.

As I said before, I see a wave of foreclosures coming down the pipeline end of year. I may be wrong, but I'd like to be cash ready for when that happens. My only fear, how will Vegas recover, and how long will it take... 

@Jeff Piscioniere it's funny you say that. We are driving out of state in a few days to meet with a few successful investors in another market, with the hopes to relocate and (if they'll take me) work together in the future...

As far as the nursing thing goes, that may happen in the future, but right now, we both know for certain we don't want to live in California any longer, and I want to get out of the hospitality industry again. I am 38 years old "serving tables", and when I went back into this industry after my injury, it was only supposed to be temporary until I could build up my RE portfolio. It's been almost a decade, and we are both ready to make a significant change to move towards starting a family, and generational wealth.

If I keep saying "now is not the right time", I will never make moves. It's time to make moves... ;)

Here's how I see it, coming from a position in the hospitality industry. I don't have numbers or graphs, but I do have experience in hotels and restaurants and the day to day operations behind it...

I expect a tsunami of foreclosures to roll in end of calendar year. When a restaurant is slow on any given night, it closes sections of the restaurant to make the seating area look more busy, and with that, also cuts its bus boys, servers, hostesses etc to accommodate the lessening of guests for that given evening. It's easy to expect that all types of venues will be put under new restrictions regarding maximum occupancy, and with that, less conventions scheduled, less seatings at restaurants, and less staff will be scheduled to work. 

If let's say 80% of Vegas population works in the hospitality industry, what percentage of that will go back to work full time, making what they were making pre-covid, and paying the mortgage they budgeted for pre-covid? I see a LOT of people unable to pay their bills, and I see job security for this industry melt away. 

I myself was planning to move to Vegas in July because of said job security, but with everything happening, why would I buy my first home if I couldn't find a stable job? Why would I move to a city where the majority of the industry is UNION, and I would be last on the totem pole to find a good paying job? People move to Vegas to turn what would a "restaurant job" into a long-term career.

I just don't see this going well for any market in LV... If you can buy and hold, you will for sure find discounted properties. But I personally am cancelling my plans to move there, so I imagine many others like me are doing the same.

Just my opinion

Hey guys, all great advice, but let me clarify a few things just for the sake of clarity... This is our entire story, if you care to read, you can maybe understand my questions a little better

My wife this week is finishing her last semester of pre-requisites so she can begin attending nursing school to get her BSN degree. The plan up until this point was to move to Las Vegas in July, where we can buy into property, she can go to school full-time, and I can keep my career afloat with the job security Vegas offered in high-end hospitality. Covid changed ALL of those plans...

My job to get more specific; I am a Sommelier and run all of the banquets, weddings, and special events for a top-tier Michelin restaurant in Beverly Hills. If it were just "serving tables" I wouldn't be as concerned, but with the new regulations that will be put back in place ONCE a restaurant is even allowed to seat a guest, I can only speculate it will be months down the line until my position will be needed to run the 100+ guest size parties again, let alone a party of 10... 

Vegas was supposed to be a transfer, to continue my income, improve cost of living, and be a 5-year transitional period until REI became solid enough to move to another more desirable city, where my wife's nursing degree could support, and I could transition out of the service industry and focus purely on investments. WELL.... We don't see Las Vegas having the job security it once had. I know there will be discounted properties in the pipeline, a tsunami of foreclosures are inevitable since the majority of the cities population is based off tourism, but for her to begin school in a new city, that would be a long term commitment and we don't see Las Vegas being the secure choice it once was.

That's why my wife expressed she wants to help in the "family business", she wants to get her RE licence, and with that can work as an agent, focus on marketing and acquisitions, and maybe down the road go back to nursing school. But right now, she wants to be my teammate and partner. 

So again, we don't have "a job" right now, we don't have a "career" right now, and if we don't execute a plan now, we will never be able to leave Los Angeles and start a new life and path. 

Ten years ago I was a paramedic, but I was injured and out of work for an extended period of time. In 2012 I wanted to buy a house and was told I "don't have the work history" and was instructed to go back into hospitality until I could show a consistent income. I went back to serving tables, the housing market shot upwards, I got priced out, and now 8 years later I'm in almost the same boat. This time however, I won't let a road block stop me, I have an amazing partner pushing me to succeed, and honestly, I'm just over everything about California and Los Angeles...

Sorry for the long explanation, I just wanted to get my story out there so others can understand the "WHY" to my post.

Kris, totally get your advice. But right now both my wife and I "don't" have a career because of Covid shutdowns. Obviously I'd have to be crazy to assume I could give up a paying job when I've never done RE before. I'm just trying to figure out how I can begin with REI when I don't have a job, but at least have the parachute of unemployment to help the process.

She will begin her RE license process end of this month, and I am reaching out to network to get the ball rolling. Rather than waiting for months, wasting time for our jobs to come back, we both want to begin REI "full-time" since we have no other time to commit to another job. Get it?

@Mike D'Arrigo exactly why I made this post. As most of the veterans say on this site, "don't give up when you hit a road block" Well, this is a pretty big block, but I don't want to step down from my goals

@Pamela Sandberg This will be a pretty novice question, but can you suggest what methods would be best to find lenders that work with investors? Up until now, I just call randoms and ask if they work with investors (they all say yes), but they don't offer any real help

@Mike D'Arrigo I'm not exactly saying I want to completely give up my day job before I even buy my first property, that would be foolish. But with all the shutdowns and closures, my position doesnt exist right now to even go back to if I wanted... 

What I'm trying to avoid, is having to move and rent for another year or more, when I know I want to get into REI now. My ideal goal was/is, we move, we buy a multi with FHA (leaving more than enough cash for a rehab and possibly another flip), house-hack for a bit, and Brrrr...

I actually JUST now started getting unemployment last week, filed early March. She is still lost in the system, and waiting for her identification to be verified which she sent in proof over a month ago. The california program is so incompetent, it's almost humorous. 

Problem is mainly my job. I work in the hospitality industry in Beverly Hills and make a lot more than the average service position would make in other parts of the country. It's a problem I keep facing since I'm not based off hourly wages, but gratuity instead. I'm not allowed to buy a primary residence in another area of the country because my income can not be predicted, and past income statements can't apply from Beverly Hills. I can only buy "investment" properties based off this, but obviously I'd want it as a primary residence for my very first home. Doesnt matter if single family or multi, I don't want to pay the higher rates and all that comes with an investment purchase.

My plan is buy end of year once the market shows what it's planning to do after this crisis. My main fear though, I move to another state, I get a job "serving tables", and six months later I show my new income, and it doesn't qualify for a loan.