All Forum Posts by: Joe Timko

@Brandon Penn Wow congratulations, thats great. I've had 22 units for some time now and have always wanted to build up to 100+ units. Your post has encouraged me to get off of my butt and add to my units. I'd like to hear more about how you built up to 118 units so quickly.

Erik, I hold the event twice a month on the first and third Thursday of the month.  Normally my next event would be 12/20 but being so close to Christmas not sure if anyone will show up.  Please go to my meetup site at this link. It will update you with the events.  https://www.meetup.com/SoCal-Real-Estate-Investing...

Joe Timko

What we're about

This real estate group is for anyone interested in Real Estate investing. Whether you are an experienced investor, a beginning investor or you are just looking to buy your first house to live in we will help you develop a clear path to meet your goals. Our "Real World Investing" strategies will clear up the bull and give you the facts you will need to move forward with confidence. Start building your Real Estate portfolio now and take advantage of the low interest rates while they last.

I started sending all of my tenants an invoice around the 20th of every month. I use quickbooks it allows you to automate the invoices, it will create a new invoice for each tenant every month.  I include a self-addressed stamped envelope so all the tenant needs to do is put their check or money order in the envelop and send it back.  I use a PO box for them to send the rent to.  

I see many people are using a auto-payment method so the tenant and deposit the rent directly in an account. One issue with doing it that way is if you start an eviction all the tenant needs to do is deposit $1 in your account and it will stop the eviction. This is because you accepted rent after starting the eviction. If you use this method make sure you can turn off one of the tenants if you start eviction on them.

https://www.meetup.com/SoCal-Real-Estate-Investing... 

What we're about

We Are All About Education!
This real estate group is for anyone interested in Real Estate investing. Whether you are an experienced investor, a beginning investor or you are just looking to buy your first house to live in we will help you develop a clear path to meet your goals. Our "Real World Investing" strategies will clear up the bull and give you the facts you will need to move forward with confidence. Start building your Real Estate portfolio now and take advantage of the low interest rates while they last.

We've had rent control in the city of LA, Santa Monica, Venice along with a few other cities in California.  Even though I think it's a bad idea from what I've seen it hasn't depressed values for 1-4 units or multi-family in those areas.  

I've tried to avoid investing in rent control areas personally. I believe it will scare unsophisticated investors and they will try to quickly sell their property. This will bring some deals to the market that would not have been available otherwise.

One of the most damaging aspects will be the ability for cities to include vacancy control in their rent control ordinance. This would mean that even if a tenant moves out of your unit voluntarily you will not be able to raise the rent for the new tenant to market rent!  

Come join us for our bi-monthly meetup held the 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month.  We are all about education. We talk about current topics that effect real estate.  All are welcome! Bring your real estate questions, tell us what you are doing in todays market.  Network with other investors, contractors, lenders, etc.

See our meetup page at   https://www.meetup.com/SoCal-Real-Estate-Investing...

See you there. Please RSVP on our meetup page.

@Brendan Turner Brendan, Sounds like you have the drive, attitude and energy to get this done. If I were you I would find someone with money but no time or ability to invest on their own. JV (joint venture) with them. They provide the money and you provide the knowledge, time and energy to get the property rehabbed and re-sold. Split the profit and if all works well keep going until you have enough to go it alone. Learn as much as you can so you can impress you partner with your knowledge. Search out a good real estate agent that is knowledgeable about investing. Start looking at properties now, pick a few locations and learn everythIng there is to know about the locations you chose. Know what is for sale, what has sold, where the schools are, what jobs are in the area, what the rents are, etc, etc. Talk with some lenders. You may find you will need to use hard money If the property needs work. The conventional Lender may not loan on a property that needs work. Talk with some contractors and see if you can get a handle on rehab costs for your area. You can also be the contractor and just hire subcontractors to do the work. Plumber, electrician, painter, flooring, etc. this can save you some rehab costs. Don't forget about the other costs involved, purchase costs, holding costs, selling costs. Use the Bigger Pockets calculators to estimate the project. Good luck.

Lex, yes prices are higher in most California locations but that also means appreciation in California is a bonus you can take advantage of. With that said there are some options in Southern California for buying rental properties. I own single family and multi-family in the inland empire and high desert. Rialto and San Bernardino in the inland empire, Hesperia, Victorville, Apple Valley in the hIgh desert are all good options. I believe the inland empire and high desert still have a lot of room for appreciation. The prices are still below the peak they reached in 2006. You might not have as much monthly cash flow as a cheap out of state property but the potential appreciation can allow you to either refinance and use the equity to purchase another property or sell and exchange into to a larger property. I like having my properties close enough that I can easily visit them on a regular basis. I've heard too many stories of property managers taking advantage of absentee owners. I manage my properties myself but that's because I'm a real estate broker so it's my profession. Let me know if I can answer any questions. I'm currently starting a mailing campaign to absentee property owners that own rental properties in my area. Many times you can locate absentee property owners that are unhappy with long distance property management and are ready to sell.