All Forum Posts by: Mark Balliet

Mark Balliet welcome to the BP community! I used to work for public accounting as well for 7 years in San Jose and now work in the IT industry. Anyway, happy to see you here! Listening to the Podcast and hanging out in the BP forums is a good way to build knowledge, also the BP books are good, "the book on rental property investing" by Brandon Turner & "set for life" by Scott trench is good resource. I've been meeting a few folks in the Bay Area just to connect and discuss our goals, if you can connect to experienced mentors that will be great. I only have one REI right now a SFR (single family residence) in Elk Grove, CA and only getting appreciation (we bought it 6 mos ago for $335K and Zillow estimate is $358K) happy with the purchase however knowing what I know now I could made better decisions but I learned a lot. My advice like what the good folks in this thread preach is to learn, learn, learn and take action. Let the number speak and not your emotions. Good luck and happy learning and Investing!

Hey @Mark Balliet welcome to BP! You will find the site is full of information available to your fingertips! I really recommend the PodCasts which are an amazing way to motivate you and give you tips and ideas and you can listen to them during your daily commute.

I took want to invest East of the East Bay around Stockton, Manteca, etc... which are not that far away from the Bay Area and still somewhat affordable.

@Jake Leicht I too would like to connect if that would be ok with you? I'm not ready to pull the trigger yet (I have early 2018 as a target) as I am working on getting capital ready, finances stable, good credit, etc... all that good stuff but would like to start knowing the good areas from the war zones.

Mark Balliet

I live in Bay Area and currently investing in Modesto.

We did a flip last year in Modesto and purchased a mobile home park this year, also in Modesto.

The reason that I went to Modesto is due to its location.

If you drive eastward from Hayward, to liver or, to Tracy, and then Modesto, you will notice the terrain change.

BART currently goes to Pleasanton area. Driving across the hills, its Tracy.

I think Tracy Area will be prime location very soon. Their price is lower than Livermore but higher than Modesto.

Modesto is cheaper, with still many people commute to Bay Area from Modesto. I have a tenant who just moved out the apartment in Newark and moved to the trailer park in Modesto. That save them $1200 month and lives a bigger and better house. The trade off is the husband has to drive.

I looked at Stockton also, but have not invested there yet.

If CA HSR really takes off, there might be significant opportunity for appreciation in Central Valley. However, that is uncertain and many years away.

If BART extends further east, e.g., Tracy, there will also be appreciation in Modesto Area.

Properties in Livermore has already appreciated significantly. The next stop of BART to the east will affect Tracy significantly.

Maybe start off by being a real estate agent with one of the big brokers and you'll learn a great amount plus getting paid at the same time if you do acquire listings. Or, be an escrow officer or something related to real estate where you can learn and network at the same time. 

If you have the drive/skill set to invest outside of where you live (which it sounds like you do) then you could apply all that and go OOS. It's not nearly as difficult as some people make it out to be but it does take a certain level of trust that may or may not come about. In my specific case that trust was built upon many hours of research and some travel and then face to face meetings. 

I'm not a hands on type per say, unless my rental was close by I'd have a property manager take care of the day to day. So if my property was in Stockton, Fresno, or really any other place it'd all be the same to me. It sounds better I guess to say "if I had to" I could drive down to Fresno to fix my property, but that's an emotional response. In reality I'm no more likely to go down to Fresno as I would be to hop on a plane and go OOS.

This is just food for thought, not really saying one market is better than another.

Mark Balliet I totally understand the public accounting thing. I did that for 2 years with EY. Time writing, billable hours, etc. My experience was great, but I figured out I liked the industry / finance space more than the public / tax space. The resources here at BP are wonderful and it looks like you've already made a local connection 😄. Keep learning, asking questions and your path forward will become clearer. Meeting up with local like minded investors will be invaluable. All the best and hope to hear how this journey unfolds for you!
Adam

Hi @Mark Balliet, welcome to BP! I've been a part of this site for a few years and as I get more and more involved, I'm finding more and more value within it. Such a valuable resource!

I've bought and sold over 100 homes in the San Joaquin County over the last 5 or so years (mainly in Stockton but also have done some fund stuff here and there in Modesto, Lodi, Manteca, Ceres, etc.) and I grew up in Stockton so please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions about certain areas or just to put a second set of eyes on something. I love talking shop and creating new partnerships so don't hesitate should you have any questions. 

Good luck!!!

Hi Mark Balliet it's great to see that you are motivated and focused on building wealth for you and your family. You are doing it right by 1. Read as much as you can. 2. Meet and talk with as many (successful) investors as you can. 3. Write down a game plan. 4. Work that plan with laser like focus and massive action.

Depending on your situation, a lot of new investors have good success with house hacking and wholesaling. There are many other ways too.

Best of luck and welcome to BP!

Adam

Just out of curiosity have you considered going OOS? I only ask because I feel that there are metros you can get much better info on than the smaller ones you've listed. I know that a lot of people don't like or get intimidated by going OOS because they "don't know the area" or "it's too far", but then again most people aren't really going to know Modesto, Stockton, etc.