All Forum Posts by: Mark Huang

 I agree. We refinished the existing cabinets since they were real wood and were in great condition still. Down the line I may replace the doors but the frame and layout is still great so we only replaced the counter. 

It just sounded like a shocking deal to be able to replace them all with the cabinet for $4k!

 I’ll check them out. Thanks Brian!

Following up on this post.  @tye waller, did you move forward with this?  I am interested in doing something similar on a 13000 sq ft lot in spring valley 

Great price, thanks for sharing! I’ll check them out. I just did quartz counters only on a sizeable 3/2 kitchen with sink for $1700 install + $700 material. I plumbed myself. For another $2000 I could’ve gotten new wood cabinets too?!

Starting a thread for people to share places to get good deals on building supplies local to San Diego. A lot of the local businesses are much cheaper than big box stores like Home Depot and even online. There are so many to choose from in the SD area and I wanted to pool recommendations from other investors. 

Contractors recommended H cabinet in Miramar to me and they’ve been great. They sell cabinets (real plywood), counter tops, and sinks at good prices. I got a single basin stainless kitchen sink for $55 that I didn’t see anywhere else for below $150. They have basic vanity cabinets for under $200 that are real wood. I hate particle board and that’s all they have at big box stores. Flooring lot in national city had good prices on vinyl plank flooring. 

Anyone have other go to spots? Plumbing? Electrical? Open to online retailers too!

Depending on where you’re willing to live in SD determines cost of multi families. Multi families are only in certain areas. North park and clairemont, it’d be difficult to find anything under 700k. Under 700k you’ll probably have to go further east or south to “worse” neighborhoods (national city, lemon grove, city heights, El Cajon, etc.) You can also go much further north to vista or Escondido. 

That sounds like the strategy I would do if I were buying a new place. I agree you should find a multi family if you can. The neighborhoods you listed all have them but the selection is pretty slim right now. If you get a duplex with the buildings touching you can build more than one ADU.

I got a Maxable consultation this weekend and I think it’s really helpful to have a resource on ADUs. I heard Appraisals on ADUs have been hit and miss and you really need an appraiser who’s trained on it. 

I also agree the North Park, South Park, University Heights, etc. is a great place to live.  I live here now and love it.  My favorite thing is it's one of the few areas that's walkable in san diego.  A ton of places to go within walking distance.  Centrally located in the city but still residential (quiet), easy access to freeways, and a lot of places to eat and drink.  For 800K you could get a small 2 bedroom home that would be better for your dog than a condo.  I feel very safe and would just stay away from the commercial areas for noise and a few homeless people.

Making it a REIT would mean owning it in a corporation? You described a limited partnership.

Which of these would allow shares to be passed down generations or transferred between current owners without reassessing the property tax? 

Hello BP!

Looking for some advice on structuring property holdings.

Background: my grandparents bought several properties throughout California. When they passed it went to my mom and her 4 siblings. There's two MFH that are tenants in common and one SFH that's in a partnership. My mom and her siblings were never interested in growing it but I've always loved real estate and want to grow it to an empire to support my family for generations to come. I offered to take the lead and everyone seems open to it.

Problem: how to legally structure the properties? There are 12 cousins in the next generation which is a lot of owners. I'd want to operate a mini REIT. My goals:

-Pass property down without reevaluating property taxes

-allow members to be bought out without triggering property tax re-evaluation 

- provide liability protection for all owners 

-being able to take loans out against the property and buy more property 

-make regular payments to owners if they want it.

Solutions: from my research, we have to keep passing it from parent to child using trusts to keep the property tax basis. If anyone eventually wants to be bought out, we'll have to change the title and reassess property taxes. I see this being inevitable when one person wants out. If we have to change the title, we get a fresh start to move it into another ownership entity. Would the best choice be move them into corps? You can exchange shares in the Corp without reassessing the property taxes? I understand a Corp brings a lot more complexity and taxes but it Seemed like LLC interest can't be passed generation to generation.

i know people are already doing this and this isn’t anything new. There must be a right answer! Thanks in advance for any input. I love learning about this stuff!