All Forum Posts by: Jeremy Schreiber

@Assaf, how did you pick Atlanta as your market - seems about as far away from Campbell as possible.   Did you have some other ties to Atlanta?

I'd love to hear more of your story.

Thanks everyone!  I'm loving the community so far, and I've been a long time listener of the podcasts.  Realizing it's time to start taking action.  

@Assaf Furman,  You're in Campbell - we're practically neighbors.   Do you do your investing locally or have you sought external markets?

First of all, thanks everyone for the great replies!   

OK Clearly building a good team on the ground is essential.  I've already seen how important a good PM is once you own a place.  

How do y'all recommend I start finding a good agent in Phoenix?  And are there good properties in the $100k-$200k range in Phoenix that cash flow nicely? 

BTW, I imagine my dad won't be much help in the RE game :(  Though it never hurts to ask. 

Hey everyone,

I live in Silicon Valley, which means I really need to look at investing out of my home state.  My dad lives in Phoenix, which is a growing market, and it seems like it could be a good place to start.  That said, I have a full-time job here in CA which means I can't relocate there for a month or two to dig deep into the market.

So how do I get started investing remotely? (BTW, it doesn't have to be Phoenix)

Thanks!

Hi Everybody,

My name is Jeremy, and I'm a long-time listener of the BP Podcasts.   I live in San Jose, CA and I'm a business manager at a global design and manufacturing company in Silicon Valley.

I became an accidental investor, after renting out my primary house (in Austin, TX) while I went back to school to get my MBA in 2011.  After graduation I moved to San Jose, and recently purchased a townhouse here (thanks to a cash out refi on my Austin property).  

I'm realizing the potential of real-estate as an investment, and love the idea of long-term passive income generation.  I'd like to start thinking about acquiring my first property that is intentionally an investment property, and therefore has much different finances than my primary homes.  

More importantly, I look forward to meeting all the other amazing investors out here in the Bay Area, making a few good friends and maybe even a mentor along the way.  I've got a very analytical mind, and I can't wait to apply it to real-estate :D

Thanks everyone - Don't hesitate to reach out and say hi! 

Jeremy

Thanks everyone!  I'm amazed at how great this forum is!

It sounds like the concensus is that I should hold while I've got my good tenants and observe how the market moves over the next 2 years.  Then I should consider if there are better (higher cash-flowing) opportunities closer to home (and with lower property taxes).  

BTW on a slightly different note...   In my head I'm confusing a few topics financially.  Can someone point me to a good resource here on the BP forums to clear things up? See my confusion below:

From a P&L perspective, as a company,  I have profit (or loss) = revenues (rents) - expenses (maintenance, depreciation, property taxes, mortgage interest, property management, etc).   Then I subtract the income tax based on that income to see my final profit (perhaps on a monthly basis).   However if I look at things from a cash-flow point of view,  I don't look at depreciation, but rather actual mortgage cost.  And somewhere in here, I get a deduction for taxes on mortgage interest and property taxes.    I've got a halfway decent spreadsheet I've built that examines both scenarios, but I feel like I could use a sanity check (or better yet - someone else's spreadsheet that factors in everything already!).  

Can anyone point me to a good template that is comprehensive, factoring in tax deductions, etc?

First of all, thanks Steven and Sunny for such quick (and thoughtful) replies!  The BP community seems to be as good as suggested :D 

I actually did the refi at the same time as my home purchase, and as a package deal, I came out very positive since rents in San Jose are just insanely expensive.  Also the refi was a lot quicker than trying to sell the house.  So net-net I think it was a good action plan.  

So now, it's all about looking forwards.  Steven you're right, on a pure cash flow bases I'm negative.  And if I prepare a P&L (factoring in depreciation) I'm also negative.   However when I factored in Cash flow plus principal ($277 a month to start and going up), plus the tax deductions, I end up net positive by $283 a month.  That even includes about $110 a month in expenses for repairs.  Of course all of this assumes I'm doing my math correctly.

Sunny, I agree, Sacramento might be a good idea.  Texas property taxes (~3%) are painful.   How do you feel about other surrounding areas like Pleasanton or Gilroy? 

How would you factor in monthly equity,  plus tax benefits from interest plus property tax into the equation...  I know typically you exclude appreciation as speculation...

Hi all,

I've accidentally found myself as a real-estate investor and am seeking your advice.

I used to live in a house in Austin, TX.  When I moved away to get my MBA (no I didn't study real-estate), I decided to rent my house, rather than selling it.  Eventually I moved to San Jose, and did a cash out refinance of the Austin home to help with the down payment in San Jose (which is a MUCH more expensive market).

My question is, should I continue to rent my house in Austin or just sell it?  Here are the details:

- Purchased brand new in 2004 for $196K

- Cash out refinance in 2015 - house valued at $280k, I continue to own 25% equity ( $70K)

- Refinanced for 30 years at 4.25% interest ($210K loan)

- All in PITI is $1670 per month

- Currently rent for $1745 per month (locked into a 2 year lease with a good tenant)

- Property manager fee is 7.5% , and I'm living in CA, so PM is a must for me

There are all of the details.  I'm hoping the cash out refi was a good idea - but it enabled me to buy a great place in the Bay area.  Do y'all have any thoughts or advice for me?

Thanks in advance everyone!