All Forum Posts by: Joseph High

@Dave Villa Not really seeing any price breaks (in transactions) or vacancy outside of hospitality. Renters that had been looking at buying might have to postpone or cancel those plans. 

@Dave Villa

What type of 1099 position are you in? Are you on a commission structure or freelancing? Local banks normally have a lot more options than even your regional banks.

First-time home buyer programs should all require that you occupy the property for a specified period of time. With a first-time home buyer program, you can put down between 3-5%,. Usually it is about 1 year before you can move out and begin renting the property.  

@Angie DeNardo

It depends on what the purpose is for getting your license and representing yourself. If you are looking for cost savings or just want to pocket the commission, it's probably not worth it. 

The actually process of getting your license is pretty simple: take the pre-licensing course, complete your hours, and then sit for the exam.You can do an online course (that's what I did) for around $500. Not sure the specifics for Colorado though.  

When talking to a brokerage group, ask them about what type of mentorship programs they have. Each group will have their own policies - some will pair you up with a mentor, others will put you on a team, others will let you fend for yourself. 

@Kellen Bennett

Congrats on taking action towards your goal of 5 properties - it takes some guts to commit to moving forward like that!

You've already defined your goal - now it's about assessing where you're at and how we can get you there. 

@Derek Bell

Congrats on your first development! Those are some big moves right there!

1) The bank appraisal is not the final say on the value of your property. Commercial properties are valued based upon the NOI of the property. That is what potential buyers/investors will be looking at (although the bank appraisal is important to look at too).

2) You are correct! Value = NOI / Cap Rate. In your case, 3,000,000 = 210,000 / 7%.

3) Don't have any experience with commercial leasing agents. We focus on apartments / residential rentals.

4) I would explore what options you have with lenders. The bank (or lender) would more than likely want to see several months of the property being fully occupied and collecting rent before issuing you a loan for another deal. 

@Luke Frauhiger

Welcome to Nashville - glad to have you here! I'm an agent/analyst for a PM company here in Nashville but originally am from the Midwest. It's a small world after all... Currently I'm house hacking a SFH that I purchased back in April. Would be glad to share some areas that I looked in for my own personal house hack search.

@Alain Perez-Majul

Not sure if anyone else has mentioned this, but as your property is (hopefully) appreciating, your return on equity is going down. The more equity that you accrue through appreciation and making your monthly payments, the amount of cash that you have in the deal continues to go up. If you are still looking at expanding your portfolio this can be a viable option, especially with the Fed's projection on interest rates through 2022. 

@Alexander Berger

I would say that you might be able to find a property. In my opinion, an important question is what is your definition of "light rehab"? For each person it will be different. Currently I am house hacking a property that just needed moderate cosmetic work (hardware, lots of spackle, and landscaping) , but it still takes more time than you would think, especially if it's your first attempt.

Personally, I believe it will settle in between the naysayers who are calling this end of office real estate as we know it and believing that everything will go back to the similar amount of appetite for office space. 

CoStar (commercial real estate analytics provider) published an article (there is a paywall for CoStar) about office workers'  productivity working from home, and their preferences working in the office in the future. 40% of respondents said they were less productive at home, while 22% said they were more productive, but at the cost of working more hours. 50% of respondents preferred some type of flexible policy of splitting time between the office and home. 

As Covid-19 continues to overhang the global economic future, it has sped up the consolidation and closing of the retail market that e-commerce had already started. Additionally, it has brought to mind to companies their global and national footprint and this will slim the appetite/need for office space. 

As residents have more flexibility in where they work, they won't have to be tied to the downtown areas where the prime central business office space is located. They will have the flexibility to rent/or buy in a suburb that might be further away from the office. As they spend more time in their local residential areas, there will be more localized demand around their residences than there was previously was if they were commuting to work every day, spending a night out on the town, and only coming back to their house/apartment to sleep.   

@Thor Sveinbjoernsson

Thanks for having the guts to write a contrarian piece and stand by it. Haha it has definitely sparked quite the commenting spree. 

I understand the thought behind the OP, but I would suggest a little more discretion in approaching your conclusions. Perhaps rewording it to encourage more of a discussion than at first glance, a VERY bold unilateral proclamation. 

Here's my push-back: This is not a new idea, but the regional nature of the new economic reality in the United States cannot be ignored. Since the 07-08 crisis, the entire country has not experienced the bull market equally. Per the McKinsey Institute, two-thirds of job growth has taken place in 25 metropolitan areas. It is estimated that by 2030, 60% of all job growth will take place in the top 25 cities. 

Therefore, not all real estate investors have/will experience this current market drop equally across the United States. The fundamentals of those regions will continue to attract residents, consumers, and thus investors. As the Fed's actions will only continue to benefit those with wealth and access to capital, these times will continue to highlight the geographic disparities of economic productivity in our country.