All Forum Posts by: June Yang

@Brandt Tingen  thanks for the thoughtful and informative response.  I haven't expanded my search into DC as i dont' know the area as well and haven't had a chance to do much research.  

On MR front, i have started to look at that, there doesn't seem be very many listings in NOVA area. I found a 10 unit apartment in the woodbridge area but was a little too late. It was closer to the 1.5% return i was looking for. For me, MR is all about cashflow as the appreciation trails SFR, condos by a long shot. Since i'm a out of state investor, i like to find something that doesn't require as much work. Since i haven't ventured much into MR before, i prefer to start with 2-4 units first to get my my feet wet before taking on larger units. But who knows, if a good enough deal comes by, i might just change my mind. At the end of the day, it all about the numbers.

If you come across any interesting deals, do drop me a line.

@David C. 

Thanks for the tip on short term rental, right now, given my busy work and family schedule, i won't be able to deal with the time required to managed such properties.  But something to consider in the future, especially when we are ready for our vacation home...

@Justin Cooper  @J. Martin 

I know i'm asking a lot, that's i wasn't sure such a place exist right now.  The reason i was asking for a high return was to compensate for the out of state effort.  If the return is too low, it's not worth my time to set up shop in some place i'm not familiar.  I suspect I will wait for the next down turn to invest my money, for now, i'll leverage other investment means and keep an eye on the market that i'm more familiar with.   I'm a patient and long term investor...  :)

I will try to join you guys this Friday if my hubby can watch the kids, looking forward to it

@j Martin, thanks so much for sharing.  I have been looking at Oakland, emeryville for a while, in the a b neigh hoods, so far nothing's early completing this year.  I wished I had the foresight back  in 2010. 2011.  Oakland has rent control and more pro tenant, which is something I haven't dealt with in the past, what's been your experience?  

Also, thanks for the tipon the San Jose meet up, I love to meet more like minded people and network.  I'll definitely check it out.  

@Natasha, thanks for the suggestion.  I have looked at PG county, Baltimore county in the past, it doesn't quite meet my location/neighborhood criteria.  I'm looking areas more similar to reston, ashburn.  

Hello, I'm new to bigger pockets, but not new to real estate investing. I have been investing in real estate since late 90's, primary in VA (NOVA, DC area) and CA (SF bay area). I'll share some of my experiences and pose my question in this post.

Past experiences

When i first started in 98, 99, i was able to buy condo/townhouse in NOVA area at around 2% return (based on gross rent and before expenses monthly).  Over the years, the real estate prices have gone up, but rental hasn't gone up at the same rate.  For example, in 99, i was renting 2/2 in reston for $1200, almost 15 years later, the rent for 2/2 is around $1500.  In the mean time, property prices has gone up several fold.  These days i'm lucky to find a property that could yield 0.9% return.  I'm looking to expand into other areas in the US that may be more favorable.  

My criteria

Here's my criteria, it's a fairly long list as i'm pretty particular on what i'm looking for.  

1. 0. Growth area with good economics and growing industries.  
2. 1. B or better neighborhood.  I want to good, trouble free tenants.  
3. 2. 1.5% return monthly.
4. 3. Minimum rehab since i'll be managing it remotely.
5. 4. I have $300k to invest, obviously in the same property, and i can get loans.
6. 5. SFR preferred, but would be open to condo, townhouse, MFR.
7. 6. Minimum property value over $150k per piece.  I don't want to deal with $50k property.  

If you know any areas that meet my criteria, i love to hear from you. Such a area may not exist, in which i'll look for alternative investment in other forms.

Why minimum property value?

On criteria 6, let me add a little more color to it.  I have seen people debating about whether it's better to have 10 x $50k property vs. 2 x $250k property, for me, i would take the latter any time of the day.  In the earlier days, $50k property is what i invested due to limited capital.  Having done that and then moved on to more expensive property, these days i would only consider larger and more expensive property for two reasons:

1. 1. Your time is money - $50k property may look to have better return on paper, the amount of time/effort you need to manage $50k property vs. $150k property is about the same, however, the gain you get at the end of the year is much different, assuming 1% net income annual, it's $5k vs. $15k.  For me, at this point in my life, $5k is not worth my time.  
2. 2. Fixed cost - There are some basic fixed cost that is similar regardless the price of the property, for example, HVAC, appliances etc. For cheaper property, these fixed cost is a much bigger percentage of the spend. For example, i just remodel one of my properties in VA beach, and it cost me $15k. It's a $50k property, that's pretty much three years of profit. For a $150k property, that's only one year of profit.

Thanks in advance.

June