All Forum Posts by: Josh Raikin

So I'm looking between house hacking a single family home using rent by the room (in South bay area of CA), or investing OOS, as my first property investment. In order to do that I want to analyze possible deals as much as possible. I know making positive cash flow in the Bay Area using this method isn't likely, but factoring in my own rent will help with that as I'm going to be living there anyway and paying for rent anyway. 

Regarding my criteria for the rent by the room property, I'm looking into:

• Property Type
  • Single Family
  • 3-4 beds/2 bath
  • Single or double story
• Location
  • San Jose, Mountain View, Redwood City, Fremont, Milpitas
• Condition
  • Ready to move in
• Price Range
  • $0.8-1.2 mil

Does anyone have experience with house hacking in the Bay Area, and could possibly advise me on the following:

• What websites/resources are best to find comps to compare rent and what should be included (i.e. furniture) in the home?
• What small tips could you offer with making this my first investment or investing OOS?
• If I was interested in short term rentals for this types of property, what resources would you recommend me looking into to understand those requirements?
• What useful laws/facts/advice do I need to know when investing in the Bay Area/ CA?

@Mya Toohey thank you so much for your advice! Final question, you stated "you ask for additional funds to compensate you for what the inspector found", who are you specifically asking for this? 

Otherwise, thank you so much for your help!

@Evan Polaski thanks for the great advice! If you have any trusted contractors in Toledo, please feel free to direct message me! I'd love any other advice/ feedback you have.

@Joe Splitrock Really appreciated your list of criteria in answering my question. I'll definitely take your advice on this and do the best I can. 

Regarding your statement "I would prefer to have it walked by someone who has nothing to financially gain from the sale. Maybe a property manager or another investor could look at it", does that mean you suggest not leaving this up to my real estate agent, who is also an investor (but interested in a different market, i.e. student housing)? How does one go about organizing for another party to visit the party for you?

Again, thank you for your help!

@Mya Toohey Thank you so much for that detailed walkthrough! Just had some clarifying questions:

• Can you describe what you mean by "contract"? I have yet to buy my first property and don't understand how you can sign a contract and then later "ask for additional money".
• who are you asking additional money from?
• Where do you obtain the properties to put in blind offers too?
• What OOS markets would you recommend?

Again, thanks so much for your advice!

New to investing and looking to invest Out Of State (in CA, looking in OH). I found an amazing real estate agent to help me who is in the city I'm looking to invest in, but just read chapter 13: "Walking a Property-- what to look for" in the Multifamily Millionaire Vol 1, and it didn't address the best way to do so from out of state. 

If I'm unable to go to the city I want to invest in, what steps can I take to get to know a property as well as possible?

@Jackelyn Lee -- thank you! Your suggestion worked :)

Where does one obtain a rent roll from?

Hi everyone! So I'm in communication with a great Real Estate Agent for Toledo, OH named Dave, and he has been so helpful for me in learning the ropes for my first investment ever. I feel bad with the amount of questions I'm asking, so thought I'd reach out to the wider community.

This particularly pertains to Toledo, OH and multifamily, but most questions apply to general real estate.

• What is 1/1, or 2/1, or 4/2 when pertaining to multifamily homes? Does one number pertain to units, or beds, or bath?
• What advice is out there with regards to looking at property that has been listed for a while? I listened to a podcast that someone (whose name I am blanking on) discussed their preference in 200+ days listed, as it can lead to a better deal being made with a desperate seller. What are your thoughts on property that has been listed for a while? (Does it make a difference that this would be my first investment ever in real estate?)
• What are the best ways to determine expenses before you start investing? Who are the best people to reach out to? What percentages are most reliable? How can I gain confidence in this?
• How does one use the AREIS website? I want to input the address "4153 Westway St" in Toledo, OH (just looking for practice in analysis, I don't plan on getting this property), but it's not being found. Did I do something wrong, or am I not understanding something clearly?
• What do I do if the Buyer Estimate from a real estate agent does not have matching data to BP tool calculations? I.e. the P&I calculated from BP tools mortgage calculator is giving me a P&I $100 over what the real estate agent provided me with.
• Regarding comps, what is the best way to obtain the data for them? What are metrics recommendations someone has? Am I correct in assuming I should contact the current owners of the comps and get that info from them, and if so, what are key things to compare?

Thank you to anyone who responds to ANY of those bullet points! I'm very new to this and am trying to avoid analysis paralysis and just going for it (but that obviously leads to many questions)! 

(I'm halfway through Multifamily Millionaire Vol. 1 by Brandon Turner rn and loving it!)

Just reading the Multifamily Millionaire and learned about MRBA (Multifamily Repair Budget Algorithm) and the MCEBA (Multifamily Capital Expenditure Algorithm). It uses a MBN (Moving Baseline Number) of $100 and calculates an amount per unit per month based off of your data. 

My question is, when using BP's rental property tool, it asks for a percentage for "Repairs and Maintenance" and "CapEx," do I (with trial and error) input a percentage into the tool that ends up matching the result of the MRBA and MCEBA?

For example, if my MRBA is $128 and my MCEBA is $128 (manually calculated), do I alter my percentages to 11.4% for both sections so that the gray text gives me a matching "$128 /month"?

For background on the data I have, I'm looking at a home built in 1928 for $94,500 with $1130 gross income (2 units, 1 bd and 1 bth per unit).

@Will Barnard@Will Barnard