All Forum Posts by: Jonathan James Look

@Bowen Taylor Payson @Daniel Han @Aaron Hostetler

There are meetups throughout the Bay Area, all the time. You can find many of them on meetup.com. I don't think I can endorse any specific one, especially on a public forum, but you can reach out to members directly if you wish.

I've been somewhat out of the loop, however, due to personal life circumstances, but I do see emails go by about them.

@Daniel Han@Daniel Han

Thanks @Ashley Cao for the mention!

Hi @Derek Janssen @Carnet Williams - there is a group of us who hold events and meetups in the East Bay and San Francisco. You can connect with my group as linked in my profile.

@BrendaChen (https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/BrendaChen) also has an SF/East Bay group going.

@Ashley Cao - I have a small group of investors in the Bay Area. According to your BP profile, are you just in the Columbus, OH market? You can reach out to me about getting in touch with other folks who may be in the same markets as you. Cheers.

@Andy Mirza @Stanley Bronstein Thanks for the input and discussion. I think I have what I need to make the title change when the time comes now, cheers!

Hey Alyssa!

Our current lawyer actually did say they could do this for us, though some states could be more difficult than others. We're actually waiting to build up that larger portfolio first before we go through this transition, to make it worthwhile.

@Aaron Gomez

Fellow Bay Area resident and REI investor here. Run through the home affordability calculators online. After a down payment, consider your monthly payments: will you have enough savings to cover 6 months of PITI?

Your max 401K loan is limited to $50K or 50% of your 401K, whichever is less. That's nothing towards a down payment for a Bay Area home.

My suggestion would be to hunker down, reduce spending where you can, find roommates, or move to a cheaper place. But if you locked in a decent rental rate, rent control will work in your favor as a renter.

Consider this: buying a home, in the long run is cheaper, assuming you don't move for a long time. If that's you, great, but consider this: the average American moves every 7 years, and home buying calculators usually tell me its cheaper to rent... (Assuming you invest your savings well)

@Michinori Kaneko

Can you share with us your lender? I've not heard of 4.625% rates on a 30 year mortgage for rental properties, only for owner-occupied residences. And what was your total closing costs as a % of the purchase price?

Are you referring to a Sterling White who's co-founder of Holdfolio?

Hey Sharon!

Just wanted to drop on here and say that you should not rush into a bad deal. Come up with your target metrics that will make your investment worthwhile to eliminate any emotion you may have in a future investment. If you're target is $200 per month, then make sure you don't tweak your numbers (e.g. maintenance, capital expenditures, etc) to hit your target. Fix those variables first (for a given market and property type) and then analyze deals.

I recommend reading What Every Real Estate Investor Needs to Know About Cash Flow... And 36 Other Key Financial Measures by Frank Gallinelli. I have 11 other book recommendations if you need more.

Cheers.