All Forum Posts by: Louis D.

Johann Jells, I get the "I personally HATE white painted cabinets" I have remodeled kitchens for decades and I started in NYC building furniture, so I like wood grain, but white is the leading choice right now the same way oak use to be in the 80s and 90s on the west coast. White came on strong in Nor Cal around 2007 and Florida has liked white cabinets longer than the West Coast. Personally I would take natural maple cabinets over white. Now as a rental? White is easy to repair and work with over the long term. You don't have white cabinets in your home do you?

Wow, you have a lot of great feedback! 

The idea is to not over do it for the neighborhood. On the other hand I recommend granite anytime the budget allows because granite will look better, and more importantly it is more durable. Quartz is also an alternative. Long term pre fabricated granite or quartz for a rental you are keeping.

Look to an imported cabinet shop and granite shop for pricing and design help. You will find their prices cheaper than the big box stores and better quality dollar for dollar. 

 If you paint the cabinets you have now, that does give you the option  to add or modify then paint. 

As for the Washer/dryer as a renter I would pay an extra 25.00 or 50.00  a month rent as a renter to have a place to put my stack able washer/dryer. It takes time to go to the laundromat and I would pay more to NOT have to. Also have them get renters insurance and put you as a rider.   Not a lot of money but gives you additional protection.  

If your water heater is that old, it's on it last leg. You can do it now or later but it may not last long.

My wife Carlee Dalmau is in the loan industry and she is a realtor, if you want to give her a call, she will refer you to her best loan person that has knowledge of  any available down payment assist programs at this time. Message me or look her at SacramentoDreamliving.com 

Welcome Devin, with your plan, energy, and enthusiasm you will do well. I'm new to the real estate game and I too got my overhead down, read a lot, got started. If you go into property management I got to say, I think there's a real need for an excellent Property Management Company. Two of my mentors that each have over a dozen properties, neither one of them has a property manager because it had such bad luck with them it wasn't worth their investment.  At the same time I think property management is the way to go long term so that you can enjoy your cash flow. My next step is connecting with other investors in the Sacramento area and see how we could help each other so I'm sure I'll run into you. 

Yes Joe Splitrock Harry Dent WILL get it right one of these years LOL. Robert Kiyosaki too but regardless people will need homes to rent in a down or up economy so I think for me, that's better place to invest.

Seung I'm looking to find and rehab homes in Sacramento area to build up my nest egg. I will be looking for rental property in the Austin area as my good friend moved from San Jose to Bastrop Tx. just outside of Austin last year and my other friend Kenny moved to Round Rock Tx. just outside Austin. Next two cousins moved to Austin. It does not have to be Austin area for rental but when I find a BRRR in that area I can stay with friends and get to know the area. I visited in June and August and I like it there. And yes I will use a property management company for rentals.

Based on Dent Research in the next 1-2 years we will have a crash. It will be worse than 2008. Based on demographics housing will stay flat for decades. We have so many baby boomers that as they pass on it will lower demand on housing.There will be a surplus.  We will have a flat economy like Japan has had since the 90s. 

According to Bryon Reynolds who was  a guest of Robert Kiyosaki it won't be for another 2 years plus before the crash.

  If your rent is less then the house payment, rent. Invest your property in areas that have a better return on investment. You could buy new homes in areas like Austin that are growing and even if there is a downturn there will be enough jobs to create paying renters for your properties. 

There are a lot of options. I recommend reading  Robert Kiyosakis book "Rich Dad poor Dad" and and then "Cash Flow Quadrent" and look at your situation again. Those two books can be life changing and they certainly can be "viewpoint changing."

After those two books if you decide to invest in real estate Bigger pockets has tons of information on the real estate side of things to help you decide what you want to do in real estate. There is no better starting point.

 As for the economy Harry Dent has a good newsletter called Boom and Bust and books too. Another newsletter is called Strategic Intelligence by Jim Rickards. Those are just two that will help you look forward as to what COULD happen to the economy. 

This is now the longest economic expansion in history. The second longest was March 1991 to March 2001. It would be good to have a plan that would work in an up or down economy. I'm betting history repeats itself.......again.

The yellow on the house at 

108 North 5th Avenue Long Branch New Jersey,

doesn't look bad at all. I think that painting it Neon yellow to fix your problem was a brilliant idea.

Thanks for sharing. Well done on the whole project. The before pictures really show just how far you had to go. Finished project looks great. Adding washer / dryer hook ups was a really good add. I bet you got a good return on that part of your upgrade/investment.

It's only as good as the person you are working with how much time and effort they will put into training you. My wife became a realtor a couple of years ago and she got very little training with EXP and jumped ship. You could have the opposite experience. Whomever you go with put your emphasis on getting really good training. That's more important then anything else.Down the road you will have more options.