All Forum Posts by: Johnson H.

Hi All,

It's another quarter and time for another real estate meetup! These meetups have had up to 82 BiggerPockets and Meetup.com members chatting about investing in the San Jose area and also out of state. Just come by and mingle, there is no set agenda. We welcome anyone who would like to attend!

When: Thursday, August 9, 2018, 6:30pm (usually I'm around at 6!)

Where: Parktown Pizza Company (Find us in the back area/room this time.)

1350 S Park Victoria Dr
Milpitas, CA 95035
http://www.yelp.com/biz/parktown-pizza-company-milpitas?sort_by=date_desc

Please support the small business by spending some money and tipping for the great service we receive every month! (I don't pay for the space nor do I receive anything from the restaurant)

In lieu of the round of introductions due to noise, you may introduce yourself and/or list your haves and wants in the comments section of this meetup.

Looking forward to meeting new investors and seeing familiar faces.

Thanks,

Johnson

South Bay , South Bay Meetup , Bay Area , Meetup , Meet up , Meet-up , San Francisco , Oakland , Berkeley , Alameda County , Contra Costa County , Solano County , Richmond , Hercules , Concord , Albany , Pittsburgh , Marin San Rafael , South Bay , Peninsula , Walnut Creek , Pittsburgh , Antioch , Pleasanton , Fremont , Castro Valley, San Jose, Milpitas, Sunnyvale, Fremont, Palo Alto, Santa Clara, Mountain View, Gilroy, Santa Cruz

True story here, BP got me a wife. 

I went to Denver for the BP summit back in 2012. The summit was Friday and Saturday and I decided to fly straight into work Monday morning so I had all Sunday free to go sightseeing. I decided to message the only person I knew in Denver to hang out on Sunday. We were only acquaintances but she agreed to meet up with me. Now we are engaged and will be getting married in September. If it wasn't for the summit I we would never have crossed paths. 

Thanks @Joshua Dorkin for setting it up. Don't give up hope @Frankie Woods, she will come your way when you least expect it!

In the last few months there has been many articles of people leaving the San Francisco Bay Area, almost crisis like. However, these articles never talk about the migration into the Bay Area over the last several years due to schools, jobs and the constant foreign migration into the area as well. As long as SF, Silicon Valley, LA and San Diego continue to be magnets of innovation, job growth, quality of education, startups, and environmental quality these areas will always be prime areas to live in. 

Here is one chart showing the net migration into SF which is positive.

Here is a chart showing the incredible job growth. My guess is that some kids come here for college and stay to work. Others after graduating come here to work and enjoy the incredible lifestyle a young person can have here in the bay. After a few years of the grind, living expenses continue to increase and with the economy so great, they decide to leave for cheaper pastures or look to move back for friends and family from wherever they are from. However, there are always folks that stay and settle down, possibly upgrading from their apartment or condo and snapping up the limited SFH available.

Over the past few years I have seen many all cash offers and purchases for property in SF, the demand continues to outstrip supply so I am not worried about the outflow of folks leaving.

https://www.paragon-re.com/trend/media-reports-of-bay-area-decline

Congrats on your success Sunday!

Josh, it takes a lot of courage to post this story and I appreciate you doing so. Not enough folks post the shortcomings of this business. Its sometimes tough for folks to fire nonperforming contractors, property managers, etc in real estate as people can be great talkers. Also, your story shows the high cost of hard money for a long one year plus flip. The good news is that you are only 26 with skills in the tech sector. You can focus on your career moving up to better tech roles making great money to pay down your debt fast or you can try your hand at real estate again with something smaller. You got options Josh. Don't let this get you down!

Hi Nate, welcome to BP. When I first started investing in 2010, I was also a keyboard warrior looking at a few cities before selecting Phoenix. From there I flew out there three times, found the right agent to work with beforehand and we drove from one end to the metro to the other looking at properties I found online. Every trip my search parameters narrowed and I started to figure out which areas and types of houses I liked and wanted to invest in. After the third trip I had two offers accepted and I closed on two properties in the same month. After that I was able to make offers regularly and comfortably. 

For me to get comfortable with investing out of state, I had to see the area, street and property with my own eyes before buying something so expensive. Would you buy a used car without seeing it in person and test driving it? I couldn't! How do you really know an area is a B vs C area? I would see with my own eyes kids playing in the street, guys loitering at the 4plex next door, or hear a loud dog barking at a neighbors house. The internet can't tell you that. Driving around I could tell right away if the vibe of the area was right for me or not.

Also, leverage is a double edge sword. It's great if you buy a $100k house, put 20% down and the market goes up 10% you made 50% more money on your down. However on the flip side, if you have a bad tenant and found out the location is not as great as you thought and wanted to sell at the same price you bought it for, with seller commissions, closing costs and rehab to sell, it could easily be 10% of the purchase price meaning you just lost half your money. I am a big believer in "making money when you buy" so make sure you buy right so that you have the peace of mind to sleep well at night.

I just sold my last rental in Phoenix last month. What was my biggest regret now looking back eight years ago? I should have never left the Bay Area and invested in my own back yard. Come by my meetup tomorrow night in Milpitas if you would like to chat more. Good luck with your investing!

@Brenda Chen and @Mehmet Deniz thank you for RSVP'ing and coming out tomorrow. Hopefully it will be worth your time and effort. If not, blame it on @Arlen Chou :)

@Anh Le, thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to come to the meetup! Please RSVP at this link as well to receive future notifications of meetups. It should be a good turnout with 20+ investors already RSVP'ed. Thanks!

https://www.meetup.com/SF-Bay-Area-Real-Estate-Investing-Club/

Hi All,

It's another month and time for another real estate meetup! These meetups have had up to 82 BiggerPockets and Meetup.com members chatting about investing in the San Jose area and also out of state. Just come by and mingle, there is no set agenda. We welcome anyone who would like to attend!

When: Wednesday, May 9, 2018, 6:30pm (usually I'm around at 6!)

Where: Parktown Pizza Company (Find us in the back area/room this time.)

1350 S Park Victoria Dr
Milpitas, CA 95035
http://www.yelp.com/biz/parktown-pizza-company-milpitas?sort_by=date_desc

Please support the small business by spending some money and tipping for the great service we receive every month! (I don't pay for the space nor do I receive anything from the restaurant)

In lieu of the round of introductions due to noise, you may introduce yourself and/or list your haves and wants in the comments section of this meetup.

Looking forward to meeting new investors and seeing familiar faces.

Thanks,

Johnson

I recently obtained a HELOC with SDFCU with a prime minus 1% rate, floor and currently at 3.99% and 95% LTV. Closing costs about $1200. It took almost two months but well worth it. Only on primary homes.