All Forum Posts by: Manny Vasquez

I also agree with @JD Martin. I would take the cash offer ASAP and run with it. If the Miami market is anything like the SoCal market, then you may have already noticed an "obvious shift". It is no longer the Seller's market that it was 4-6 months ago. Properties that are listed on the MLS are no longer receiving the tons of offers that they used to fetch (maybe 2-4 offers now as compared to 10-12 offers before), the Days-On-Market is also increasing (drifting towards a more "normal market") and very few properties are going above the asking price (if they are going above asking its just a few thousand, not the tens of thousands above asking as before). The fact that they are offering $5K above asking is a huge win. Take the offer.

If you decide to use the Buyer's Agent, while you may be saving some money by not hiring your agent, please keep in mind several things:

1). Your agent may also have buyer(s) in mind that may offer more than the offer you received.

2). Remember that this particular agent was hired by the Buyers, so even though the agent has to show impartiality in the transaction, who do you think he'll be working/negotiating just a little harder for? 

3) Another Golden Rule of Life, you get what you pay for.  Sometimes, "saving money" ends up costing you more in the long run.  Hopefully, the Buyer's agent doesn't pull any tricks that may be to your detriment and to the favor of his buyers.

Just my 2 cents....

If you plan on doing an STR from a rental unit that you lease, DO NOT do it without the consent of the Landlord. You will save yourself A LOT of pain + headaches if you spell out exactly what you intend to do with the property. Make sure you review with the landlord exactly what you intend to do with the property. Put yourself in the shoes of the landlord and imagine how it would feel if you discovered that your property was an STR and the person that you thought you were leasing it to was not there. There are some Landlords that are open to the idea of STR's, however, make sure you spell out how you will operate the STR with the landlord.

I also agree with @Andrew Garcia's advice.  I would also add the following:

1. If you are looking into purchasing a condo, the condo community must also qualify for FHA. I don't want to get into specifics here, but the condo also needs to be FHA approved.

2.I have used USDA loans for my clients in the past and they are great.   However, they are usually reserved for rural areas.  Anything in the city will not qualify. There will also be income limitations to qualify for this program.  Try looking outside of Philadelphia?

3. An LLC will not help with the purchase of either FHA or USDA. If you have an established LLC business and can show 2 years of tax returns and you can qualify for a mortgage based on the LLC's income, then more than likely the mortgage bank will require a hefty down payment.

Before you take them out and show them any properties, get them pre-approved. Let a mortgage person find a loan program that best fits their financials. They may have a 401(k) and not realize that they can pull some money out for a down payment.  Getting them pre-approved will save you and them a lot of time and effort.

Hello and welcome to Bigger Pockets Mike! My name is Manny and I've been an real estate agent in SoCal for over 17 years now. I have bought and sold properties all over SoCal...from all the way down in San Diego, to Orange County, to Riverside, San Bernardino and Los Angeles Counties. I also own an STR company with properties in Orange County, Los Angeles County, Kern County and 1 in Mexico. How may I be of service to you?

@Christina Rodrigues Have you tried running the numbers by house-hacking the duplex?  Maybe this helps?  I also own property in San Diego ( I bought all the way back in 2002) and at first I barely cash-flowed, as a matter of fact, after factoring in gas, time and other maintenance projects I think I was either breaking even or in the red.  What helped me was factoring was depreciation and other tax-hacks that my CPA recommended.   But I held on to the property and now its a cash flowing nicely.  Be patient and try different tactics, remember, instead of waiting to buy real estate, buy real estate and wait!

@Christine I. Thank you for your kind words. I just got started on Bigger Pockets myself (like 2 weeks ago), even though I've known about this community for years now and I've been listening to their podcast for just as long. I still have to write-in my profile and upload a head shot and also my STR company logo....but yes, I'm here to help any way I can. Good luck!

You can have only ONE FHA loan at a time. However, you can refinance out of that FHA loan and then purchase your 2nd home using an FHA loan. So, you can buy your first home in California using an FHA loan. Then you refinance yourself out of that loan (that is not FHA). You then buy your 2nd home in Florida using an FHA loan. Its not as quick and dry as I just explained above, as FHA loans come with certain requirements you have to meet. For example, you will have to have a good reason for buying a home across the country (when you already own one) in order to use an FHA loan again.

@Christine I. - I would definitely take that deal right away.  I would also do as @Cameron Pendergraft mentioned above and get it in writing before accepting and do not drop the lawsuit unless he moves out on that day.  Cut your losses now before they bigger.  The guy will have a hard time qualifying for a new place to rent given his current state of affairs anyway.

I had a similar situation (my rental unit was in San Diego at the time) happen to me a few years ago.  Long story short, I had to cut my losses because the tenant could have stayed there a lot longer, thus falling further into debt with me.  I cut a deal with him that if he moved out in 10 days, he would owe nothing, no collections, no evictions on his record, nothing.  He took the deal and I was able to advertise the vacancy, clean it up and had it rented within 10 days after that.

I have used Airdna and Mashvisor in the past and they have worked well for me.  However, please take the numbers they provide with a grain of salt and cross-check the properties on either Airbnb or VRBO.  You should be looking at occupancy rate, daily average rate and any seasonal fluctuations (plus other metrics important to you) to determine if the numbers work out for you.