All Forum Posts by: Justin Louie

@Nathan Turner

Thanks for checking in on the thread! Things are going well and moving along. The property I looked at after my last post was a duplex that was in great condition in a decent area. However, there was a ton of interest in it and some of the chatter indicated that I didn't want to waste my time with an offer. Turns out to be right as the property sold for roughly 300k above asking and I was only willing to go to the list price. 

I haven't found the first investment yet but have seen many properties with my agent and planning to see a several more over the couple of weeks. In this particular market, I'm starting to realize that finding something that I can live in AND get cash flow is pretty much nonexistent, so I'm expanding my search parameters hoping to find something that will give me some appreciation potential while lowering my cost of living. 

We've gotten an offer out of the way, and though we offered 25k above asking on that one, we were still at the bottom of the offer pile, which is discouraging, but hey, on to the next one! 

@Walter Roby jr

Absolutely. I just verified the information and was planning on sending the letter out by the end of the week. Just wasn't sure if I should try to find the number and call or just write to the address.

I was hoping for some lovely BP input as to the best way to approach this situation.

I was walking for dollars last March and saw a property that said "FOR RENT" with a number attached. I thought that maybe I should call and see if they would sell it. Partly being scared and partly not having much financing power I just kept an eye on it. As far as I know from periodic checks, the property has not been rented and is still vacant.

I checked again last week and sure enough it still looked the same.

So I just called the number on the sign. The voicemail says, "we will not respond to phone inquiries, please write to us and see the notices on the windows".

The notices have a brief description of the house, specifically what is for rent, the address, and these instructions:

"Write for an appointment: Limit writing to one page only; introduce your family, include your contact information; state your intended Use and Occupancy, Rent and Payment Period, and Term of stay; detail any special terms and conditions. Phone solicitations will not be answered...Principals only, no broker/agents. Thank you for visiting. Drive safely. Sincerely, OWNER"

So it doesn't say where to send the letter to, nor does it have any other contact information. 

While some background digging yielded some potential information, I cannot confirm it due to the holiday. What do you think is the best way to reach this owner? Should I write to the vacant property? Write to the owner's listed address? Call a number associated with the owner that isn't the one provided on the FOR RENT sign.

I feel like a direct phone conversation would be best, but perhaps starting with the written letter/mailer first on a monthly basis would be more successful. 

Any thoughts and/or advice would be great. Thanks!

@Brent Coombs

This thread is certainly a little older now, but I have been setting aside money every month for a down payment. Put aside about 25% of my net in 2016 strictly for REI. It's currently just sitting in a savings account waiting to get deployed. I know it's not much for the area, but it's nothing to sneeze at either. I've made considerable progress my search and while prices are still high, I continue to sift for a deal. I could be more diligent with this, but it's moving along. I'll actually be seeing a duplex in about 2 hours. Hoping for something good!

@Account Closed

Thanks for the tag! I know it's late, but was able to confirm that I could make it. So I will see you there. Looking forward to soaking up as much information as I can. Hopefully I can find a way to help everyone else too.

@Arlen Chou

I had to do some rearranging, but I got ticket today and am looking forward to meeting people, learning and hopefully will be able to make some first moves in my investment career. Looking forward to talking with you too. Thanks for your input.

@J. Martin

Looking forward to hearing about how you guys are finding and doing these deals. Congratulations on quitting your job and becoming full time in real estate!

@David Trier

Thanks for your response. I read Juan's post and it seems pretty interesting. 

@Anthony Addessi

Thank you very much for that information. I need to be more on top of knowing the local marketplace. It's a lot to take in and I feel like its a tough time for new investors to gain a foothold. I will be doing more research in the market trends and hopefully get a better feel for things so I can be more aggressive too. Congratulations on finding that deal and doing the work required. If you ever need some help looking at some properties or if you have some that don't quite fit your model, I'd be happy to take a look at them, too.

@Jeff Pollack

Thank you for your response as well. It is difficult to find things that are as "nice" as the deals you hear about in the podcasts. I know I'm getting started and don't have a lot of experience, but I hope to get a good feel for the marketplace soon. If I can be of some help to you or your business, whether it is evaluating deals or numbers, or maybe just driving by a property, please let me know and I'll do what I can.

@Anthony Addessi

Thanks for the heads up. I actually made it out to one of Johnson's meetups a while back, just haven't been able to coordinate my schedule enough to go on a consistent basis and unfortunately this Friday will be another one of those days. Congrats on the tri-plex in RWC this year! 

I am continuing to try and build my network and get it in place. Would you be willing to share how you found that deal?

@Pat Marco

Hi Pat,

Thanks for the information! I really appreciate that! I remember reading about the change, but didn't even think about the possibilities of it being involved in a real estate syndications. My brain went to the thought of people throwing money at startups in Silicon Valley and what that might look like. I will have to look into these and see if this is a good idea for me. 8% doesn't sound too shabby.

@Tom V.

I think you're right. Maybe I have been a bit too hard-headed about a particular strategy that could ideally fit my criteria, but I like your words. I need to "adjust my expectations" to take a more realistic approach. I guess I just listen and learn a lot about real estate here on BP and with so many stories about finding these "no money, or low money" deals that can be rehabbed and start off right don't fit well in the current market conditions. They make it sound like it should be easier than it is. I probably get too caught up in the thought, "if so many people can do this, why can't I?" Sometimes we all need that course correction. Thank you.

@Michael Boyer

@Michael Boyer

Thank you for your input Michael. Some of the homes in the area definitely get into the 7 figures...definitely out of my current price range. I have considered heading out towards the east bay, but I want to see if I can snag something along the peninsula side first. My fiance and I both work on this side, very close to each other and so we want to try a bit more here first. If not, then we will be heading east for something a bit more affordable.