All Forum Posts by: J. Martin

Hi @Ana Carini ,

We have a meetup coming up on Jan 16th in Oakland, but I haven't heard anyone specifically talking about mobile homes (at least at the last one). There is lots of info on the website, but I don't know how popular it is in the Bay, perhaps due to the lack of local inventory.. Anyway, you're welcome to come out and chat either way.. Sorry couldn't be of more help on the mobile home front!

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/88/topics/109953-east-bay-meetup---thurs-jan-16-2014-in-oakland

@Daniel S. about flipping while you're at the meetup.. (and of course, the rest of us!)

@Amit M. , hope you can make it out again!

Happy New Year everyone!

What: East Bay BP Meetup - 2014!

When: Thursday, January 16th, 2014 - 6:30PM to 9ish+

Where: Rosamunde Sausage Grill (& Bar)
Swans Market Place, 911 Washington St, Oakland, CA 94607
http://www.yelp.com/biz/rosamunde-sausage-grill-oakland?nb=1

Get There: Take BART to 12th St/Civic Center Oakland Station& walk down Broadway to decreasing-numbered streets. Make a right on 9th St and walk to the first corner, at 911 Washington St. It is about a 5min walk, a block from the last EB meetup.

Parking at 459 8th St, or other garages nearby at the link below. Address above.
http://oaklandparking.spplus.com/Oakland-459-8th-Street-Parking.html

@Corey Davis , Bryan Hancock has a good point about diversifying your investors too (Working on that allso, but easier said than done sometimes..).

To your questions about which is more "desirable" to banks - you will probably find that more banks are willing to do the recourse option and there will be a pricing or downpayment difference if they do non-recourse. For example the downpayment will either be an extra 5 percentage points and/or an extra 25-75bp+ on the rate with non-recourse. (This may differ in your area). But you can probably do more deals with less impact on your respective balance sheets this way (if your strongest sponsor is strong enough).. because there is technically no legal obligation to pay (not even contingent). So not a liability to either of you..

I review hundreds of CRE loans as part of my 9-5 job as a bank regulator, and the non-recourse route would definitely allow you to do a lot of deals with a single, strong guarantor.. The other route with signing as a guarantor depends a little bit more on the strength of the individual deals, but can still be done with many deals..

I recommend calling community banks in your area, and just asking them.. what are the options? Be friendly, and get the right person, and you'd be surprised what info they will give (they want to do business too - banks are really itching for loan volume right now.) You might end up going in circles.. Maybe search for commercial lenders on BP too, and target the specifically. But calling around to the actual banks in your area are your best bet..

Thanks for hopping in @Robert Brubaker . I saw you on one of my other posts too.. I think that's a good point.. but now you're making me wonder if I pay my handyman enough! I still think it's nice to give him a little extra for the holidays though.. I don't have most of the other service people you mentioned, but garbage man for sure..

I'm curious about some others on the site, maybe @Al Williamson ? Tips/gifts? To who? Heart-felt note or something else?

You either have to reduce the numerator, or increase the denominator. Depending on whether or not the debt is all mortgage debt, or other debt..

Transfer whatever debt you can to an entity, then guarantee the debt yourself if necessary. Personal credit card debt? Transfer it to another entity. Private notes? Try to re-write to company with you as guarantor.. Mortgage debt? You can try..

Or you can pay down debt. I assume you don't have the ability to increase income..

I might disagree slightly, and say this depends. And here's why:

1) Some people have VERY deep pockets/income/etc. Some of these partners could sign on millions of dollars in loans, without huge ownership distributions, and still provide a lot of support - especially if the CRE deals are strong. Partially because...

2) If the strong partner guarantees the deal rather than signs directly, it is a contingent liability rather than direct liability. It is often-times not directly underwritten as debt as long as the deal is paying for itself.. Especially if the guarantor is very strong, has CF, liquidity, NW, etc..

3) With strong enough guarantor(s), you may be able to get a non-recourse loan for another 25-50bp. This avoids the debt going on anyone's credit. Ironically, you need a very strong partner for the Bank to have enough confidence to not make any natural person sign.. But experience will probably be important to them too.. With this strategy, you can finance as much as you can put downpayments on, although they might want 25-30% down for non-recourse.

@Robert Brubaker , couldn't agree with you more!!

"Festivive at Holidays', Pleasant appearance, picked-up, well lit at night! ...but don't miss these simple opportunities to promote your place as a "cut above" tthe competition"

I always try to be the nicest place on the block too! And there are always people asking if there is anything for rent. There is a place next door for rent all the time, and people always stop there, decide no, then come next door and ask me if there is anything available, even though I don't have a sign out.. That tells me something..

When's the IPO!?! Just kidding.

Great site, and looking forward to gaining more investors in the Bay Area..

As far as using the data for the future:

My handyman reports expenses, noting the unit, in a spreadsheet. If any one unit gets excessive, I start to look into what is going on.

I take a look at the master utility expenses now and then to see if anything spikes.. can be a good clue of an unseen water leak, or tenants tapping master power to grow weed (haven't had that problem yet!), etc. etc..

Also, I think it's nice to know what your average expenses are (however you want to look at them - per sqft, per unit, % of revenue, etc) in your area for your property type, so you have a good idea when you are purchasing more, for long-term estimates..