All Forum Posts by: Kyle N.

Can anyone recommend a company that can assist in foundation or structural correction. I found a leak in my plumbing that has been causing damage under my duplex. The plumbing repair has been fixed but it has caused some shifting in the building. Thanks in advance.

@Juanita Lopez exactly what's going on with me, I'm about to close and the sellers businesses is being impacted by COVID19 so he needs cash.

I know this was tricky based on all the use cases I've read in other post. You knew something was up when I couldnt find another post in the forums of someone in a similar situation. The property is located in Richmond CA and I start my inspections this week. Everyone has pointed out some good information and I will share my findings in a few days. Thanks for the second eyes on this.

As for raising the rent, the city has a Maximum Allowable rent (MAR) where they roll your rent back to 2015 then increase it ~3.5% each year until 2020 but i have to understand what the tenants base rent is and if he/she is even paying during corona. More to come.

I'm looking for feedback how best to leverage this information in my negotiations to close. The property needs some work and my goal is buy/hold as this is my first property, House hacking, 2 units (2b/2ba). The unit has a detached garage/workshop that I could turn into another unit down the road.

• -1 unit occupied (seller knows the tenant), 1 unit vacant
• - Seller and Tenant are family, no leases
• -Tenant has a pet and is month to month
• -Agent said they didn't have disclosures yet, I put in a offer same day and it was accepted then he gave disclosure same day.
• -Listing and Agent communicated tenant pays $1750 disclosures say $1500. I would break even now.
  
• -Disclosures were basically empty; no reports, no leases, no inspections.
• -I did some info hunting myself with the city and the owner registered the building for section 8 in April 2019 but didn't mention this
• -Seller Questionnaire - Owner is not aware of anything going on in the property
• -The owner bought the property last year.

Since its my first time, what are your check and balances?

Thanks, it gives me more perspective. 

I've seen a lot of information on rent vs own your primary but what about in general your primary residents/1st property? I live and work in the bay area and currently looking for my first to house hack. When people decided they wanted to go into real estate investing did they continue to rent, MFH, SFH, or go out of state. Everyone talks about their second but what about their first? Did you already have a home when you started?

@Kevin Kim In reading you post, we are literally the same when it comes to the numbers but I'm in the bay area. As for my search its exactly the same. Starting my journey everyone mentions FHA on a 3-4 unit but when you look at the numbers in our higher priced market, rental control laws, and long term tenants I have found only one property that means the self sufficiency test and that was in the hood. I also have the option of conventional financing and expanded criteria what @James You mentioned with a single family+ ADU. If I go SFH, I'm just planning on house hacking.

Overall, I feel you on the journey though. We just want to get my first one and secure ourselves then start looking to invest out of state. What other strategies are you looking into in your area?

 My mistake, Yes to Both

Hello, I thought I'd share my feedback on my first 60 days as a buyer. I started my real estate journey about 4 months ago, reading books, listening to podcast, and multiple meetups. I've seen lots of progress 

Background

• Status: Renter
• Purchase Location: Bay area California
• Criteria: MFH,  Oakland, Richmond, El Cerrito, South San Francisco
• Goal: House hack

Wins

• Found a lender that has me fully underwritten pre-approval FHA near max and I can close on a property in 17 days.
• Met and made connections with contractors, lenders, flippers, agents.
• Part of an African American real estate investment group and have a small group of real estate friends

Challenges / Learnings 

• - I have no idea how the relationship between the Buyer and Agent is supposed to work. I'm basically a project manager by day and I don't expect everyone to work at the same speed as me. 
• - I'm visiting open houses and discussing homes before my agent can send them to me and I do not have access to MLS.
• - Agents work in specific cities and stick to those areas because of their relationships. Is this a limiting factor for me since the city location is not the biggest factor? My high-level criteria are if I can commute to the SF in a decent neighborhood near a grocery store then another tech worker is willing to do the same. I have other criteria but its all numbers bed/ba and income related.
• - I think the communication between buyer - agent - lender through email is bad when discussing multiple properties. There has to be an APP to handles this - (millennial thoughts haha)

My first offer

I found a SFH with ADU fully updated and permitted. Asking was $700k and I think they had 13 offers. I ran the numbers and the rents worked with me so I placed a bid around $770k conventional waived inspections with a 17 day close. I didn't win and the highest bid was ~$810k. *tear drop goes here*

My next steps

- Cry myself to sleep. Nope. I was out the next day at other open houses.
- stay hungry but patient

For you, is there anything else I should be doing? Am I missing anything?

@Jon Holdman years later this is the exact post I needed to read. I'm a first time investor and it feels real slow but this put me at ease. Thanks!