All Forum Posts by: Josh Justiniano

Welcome. That's great you're so young looking to invest! I'm from SoCal as well (Thousand Oaks area). Just remember, real estate is a long term game. It's not a get rich overnight game. Anyone who is telling you it is is probably trying to sell you something! ;-) 

Good luck and feel free to message me with any questions.

@Alex Gerasimov

He's good I'd agree. I have a book from him on audio and it's easy listening chocked full of great info.

How consistent are you with marketing? Have you expanded your target customers for your service? Sometimes only hitting one type of prospect (NOD's etc..) is not enough, especially if you're in a hot market.

Wholesale, pick up an extra job, partner with other people to provide the cash.

When I started I cold called investors from my area asking to work for them for free. That's how I learned to wholesale. From there, my brother and I built capital and trust from other investors to start acquiring rentals using our own money as well as other peoples'.

What are the best business/economics books you've ever read? 

Here are some I'd like to share with you that I have found very informative! If you have any, particularly audio please post. I'd like to hear about them.

Here's a few that top my charts:

Real Estate Finance: Risks and Opportunities by Peter Linnerman 

Principles of Real Estate Syndication by Samuel Freshman

Investment Analysis For Real Estate Decisions by Gaylon Greer and Philip Kolbe (bought that one for .01 cent on Amazon. Extremely valuable info still applicable today)

Audio:

Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell 

Good To Great by Jim Collins 

E-Myth Revisited

I've been actively investing in Bakersfield for about 2 years now. Over time, I've noticed deals are harder to come by using direct mail, especially in certain areas. People constantly tell me that they've been getting a ton of letters/postcards etc... So demand from investors is certainly there.

Bakersfield has one of the fastest growing millennial populations. (Shocker I know!) It's likely because of affordability. 

No but I would love to hear about them. Do you have a phone number or website?

Bakersfield actually has a pretty diverse economy. There is a lot of transportation and a lot of warehousing which is doing OK right now. 

The lack of affordable housing in California is also to blame.

A few months ago I was using the same logic as you are, regarding pricing, but as other parts of CA become out of reach for the normal person, many people I feel will start buying in more affordable areas, like Bakersfield or Fresno.

I have noticed margins on flips and rentals are drying up as other investors dive into the area. I've been doing direct mail out there for a very long time, and noticed people are now starting to get many pieces. 

My opinion, get used to steady rising prices, and get used to smaller yields on flips and rentals in Bakersfield, because I don't think it's going to slow down for a while.

@Dave Fontana 

Those operating expenses seem pretty low at 36%. Even so, it would still make sense. Sounds like a good one.

@Terri Pour-Rastegar Wow. Are you including debt pay down as part of the return? I didn't think these kind of deals were real. Maybe because I'm from CA.

@Dave Fontana How did you manage to get 20%? How are you calculating that? Is that levered and before cap reserves and tax?