All Forum Posts by: Marcus Tam

@Matthew Duch yeah kind of. Im still keeping an eye on the market and will make offers if i find something interesting but i'll probably low-ball them and see what happens haha.

Even for the condo i went in escrow on, i offered $10k above asking

Hey Matthew, I didn't end up going through with a purchase. I went into escrow but backed out as the property was going to close during the first few weeks of everyone working from home and the HOA had issues with me starting renovations right away and i just couldn't afford to wait (for who knows how long).

The property i found was one of the two bed rooms at 950 N Kings Road for like $760k and some of the comps in the building were at around $900k i believe. The unit definitely needed a make over and the quotes i got from contractors ranged from $75-125k ish. 

I was going to live in there for a at least two years and consider selling it. the uncertainty with the short term outlook of the RE market also spooked me a bit 

Thanks @Andrew S. I didn't really think of that and one of the properties i was looking at on 8550 Holloway went down $50k because another unit came on the market at $50k less. 

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@Jeffrey Chen 

I am not an expert so would love to hear what other people think however using my own research, i reckon adding $50-70k to a $600-700k condo should get the value to low $800s

@Nabil Suleiman Thank you. What i meant by that is i dont think current market rent would cover PITI + HOA + other costs.

@Nabil Suleiman Thanks for the insight! I'll chat with my CPA to get a better understanding of how to capitliaze on the tax incentives from selling a personal property. One of my other concerns is that condos just dont really apprecaite that well so not sure if i would be able to turn a profit in 2-5 years.

how worried should i be about cashflow even tho i'll be living in the unit?

2

I'm looking in the WeHo / Bev Center area and while this condo would be a primary residence (for a few years at least), i still want it to be a solid investment. But I know finding a condo that cashflows is extremely difficult in my area / LA. Would it better for me to just continue renting and invest my money elsewhere? 

If i were to buy, I would look at two-bedroom properties under $750k and plan on putting around $50k for renovations. My total monthly including HOAs will be about $4500. down deposit + $50k for renovatoins = $200k

If i were to rent (assuming same quality as the one i buy), that'd cost me about $3600. 

I'm in the same boat as Madhav in the sense that i live in an area (90048) that is too hard to BRRR and due to personal reasons, i kinda have to be nearby.

My budget for my first property is about $1m (hopefully get something for less) and i can probably scrape another ~$50k for renovations and stuff.

I'm struggling to decide if

1) I want to purchase a condo in 90048 for me to live in (like Madhav, for the purpose of not paying rent) but I'm noticing it's really hard to find a cashflowing property

2) save up enough money to buy a duplex here (about $2m) and try to house hack

3) buy a single family residence for about $1.5m and develop / live in an ADU

4) invest in a rental property elsewhere (near southbay? or even out of state) and i continue to rent where i live

i would need to save more for options 2 and 3 

What are your guys thoughts on this? which move would be best if my long term goal is to own a portfolio of cashflowing rental properties?

I'm in the same boat as Madhav in the sense that i live in an area (90048) that is too hard to BRRR and due to personal reasons, i kinda have to be nearby.

My budget for my first property is about $1m (hopefully get something for less) and i can probably scrape another ~$50k for renovations and stuff. 

I'm struggling to decide if 

1) I want to purchase a condo in 90048 for me to live in (like Madhav, for the purpose of not paying rent) but I'm noticing it's really hard to find a cashflowing property

2) save up enough money to buy a duplex here (about $2m) and try to house hack 

3) buy a single family residence for about $1.5m and develop / live in an ADU

4) invest in a rental property elsewhere (near southbay? or even out of state) and i continue to rent where i live 

What are your guys thoughts on this?