All Forum Posts by: Joanne Tsai

@Larry Fried @Jay Hinrichs @Steve Milford

it seems west coast still remains hotter than the east coast. I def have heard that south CA and the Bay area are still crazy markets. 

@Michael Brattelli yeah, our neighborhood is still crazy for the starter homes, esp the ones that don't require work. It's common to see 10% or 15% over asking. 

I know in NYC, the market is cooling a little bit, which is common for July/Aug. In order for a unit to go quickly, it usually requires no renovation, everyone seems to be aware it's extremely difficult to find contractors and good labors these days. 

Hi Mark, 

are you in CA markets? yes, I am hearing nothing is slowing down in CA yet, but I am curious if it's similar else where, such as FL or TX. I def see more price reductions and longer DOM in these markets. 

Hey all,

There have been a few articles on CNBC talking about new home sales plunged 25% in recent months (YoY) and also today there is an article talking about existing home sales also seem to trend down comparing to a year ago.

What’s the temperature in your local market? Is it still hot or do you find more negotiation room? And what is your forward strategy?

Thanks!

@Elias Barend Westhof

Yeah of course you can offer cash for key but so as the current owner. They probably tried and the tenants decided it’s better to live there for free.

Are you trying to manage the property yourself? Are you familiar with the eviction process or dealing with non paying tenants in LA?

You can offer the seller a few thousand dollars more and see if they can get the tenants out, but unless you are a super experienced landlord, my understanding with the law in CA, this can be a very lengthy and painful process for most.

@Shyam Panchal

If you are in UK, are you using a PM for your rental in TX?

You may just ask your PM how many of these items create liability issues down the road. We are also long distance investors and we don’t want to be sued for negligence.

It does seem most of the items are not huge, you can probably ask for some credits and have them addressed through your PM. You’d never find a perfect house and unfortunately with flippers, they try to cut corners here and there.

I’d be more worried if there was major foundation issue and such…..

@Diandra Duncan

They are allowing you to do inspection but having it informational. So if they won’t credit you for the issues found, you can still choose to cancel the deal. they probably don’t want to be bothered to see the inspection report, not sure if in NY state they would be legally required to disclose if you actually send them the inspection report after.

To waive appraisal contingency is very common when there is a bidding war, but if they pick you with 5% down, it’s probably not that competitive. Yes % down does matter, seller takes it as an indication of ability to close.

As a first time buyer, you should only do what you are comfortable with. 740k is not a small amount, if the appraisal comes back close at 730k, that’s still another 10k you need to have in cash.

@Kristine Norris

1) how far away is the property?

2) how flexible is your schedule?

3) are you or someone on your team handy?

4) what type of property is it?

Most of our properties are out of state, so we prefer to have PMs just bc we can’t address most of the issues ourselves physically there. — screen your PM carefully and we’d rather pay a little more for better PMs than some flat fee PMs. After all, they are managing something that’s quite expensive for you.

We are all both working professionals who are either in the meetings or on the calls for most part of our days, the last thing I want to do is to get a call about a leaking pipe or clogged toilets while dealing with my day to day job. And if there is an emergency they call you during your sleep. No thank you.

Again, I can’t fix a clogged pipe myself, if anything breaks in my house, I call the service! So what can I do for my rental? Call the service too! An honest PM will try to save money for their clients, and while they may not be the cheapest, most times it’s not outrageous either.

We have a condo in NYC where the handyman is on site 24-7, this is the only place we self manage. The tenants can simply call front desk to have most issues addressed without having to call us. We regard ourselves investors rather than landlords.......

Best of luck!

@Peter O.

I am not sure if my kids are not paid enough flipping burgers, my solution would be to pay them to stay home and blame the restaurants for not paying them enough.

And if I am not willing to do this with my own money, I am certainly not thrilled that’s how everyone’s tax money is being spent.

@Susan Maneck

Why is it only small business required to pay a living wage? When Walmart, IKEA and alike can always hire more robots to replace people who demand a living wage?

A Chinese takeout actually doesn’t make that much profit after paying the rent and chef and delivery guy..... small business is the only sector that are still hiring In America, most corporations are sending jobs overseas. If the government wants a strong economy, they should treat small business with some respect and dignity.