All Forum Posts by: Matt Ellis

A contractor I know is in escrow currently for a unit at Seascape resort, $700k purchase price. HOA is $900/month. Seems crazy to me, but maybe that is standard for these properties? The selling agent claims the unit should cashflow $5k /mo. Maybe in the summer time,under the absolute best circumstance.. but winter? I'm guessing not.

Hey Spencer, 

We love Angels Camp area. Visit family in Murphys and snowboard Bear Valley regularly. Almost bought some land and built a house in Copper years ago on the lake. Wish I did. But I'm keeping an eye on properties in Arnold for a rental. What is your plan or what would you like to get into?

Good question, I believe you do need to pay the title company for every home you are interested in right? Maybe they give you a deal for more than one or 2. Sorry, I really dont know either, hopefully someone can explain to us.

I hope this isnt true, being self-employed myself. If it is true, wonder why? We need to prove our income just like everyone else and in these uncertain times, when others are getting laid off and becoming un-employed, we are continuing on as usual. For me anyways, as a General Contractor.

Going out on a limb here and assuming you are joking. I'd be very cautious. Stay where you are at, potentially raise rents, but be ready to buy 12 months out

Hi, Glad I found this thread. I'm in California also and looking for same thing. How about foreclosure.com?

I have not yet used propertyradar.com , or listsource.com. I have used Zillow to search for preforeclosure. Wondering how each site compares to each other and would you use one over the other for some reason?

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Citrus Heights.

Purchase price: $160,000
Cash invested: $40,000
Sale price: $230,000

Long story real short: built a 700sf addition connected to the back of this house, added a kitchen and bath. Lived in that and rented out the main house for $200 cashflow. Took out HELOC and bought a house in Smyrna, TN. Wired a crook from Craigslist money to install carpet, Had Sheriff evict his *** 6 months later after not receiving anything. Then the property manager sent me a bill for $4500, this was in 2007. Was never able to recover. Lost both houses

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

My home town was twice as expensive so I moved 4 hours away to buy a house I could afford

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

MLS. Paid full asking price in 2003

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional 30 year fixed, then added a interest only ARM HELOC

How did you add value to the deal?

Built on a 700sf studio with full kitchen and bath, seperate from main house

What was the outcome?

Figured I would invest out of state and lost both houses

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Never wire a kook off craigslist $2k because he tells you he has some nice carpet in storage he will give you a great deal on because his wife will not move in with the carpet that is there now.
Invest closer to home if this is your second deal ever.
dont use a HELOC to fund your second investment
Get a good mentor that can guide you, not screw you over.
It takes 10 years of your life to get ready to get back in the game..
Please dont do what I did, lol.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

No

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Citrus Heights.

Purchase price: $160,000
Cash invested: $40,000
Sale price: $230,000

This house was foreclosed on me. Long story real short: built a 700sf addition connected to the back of this house, added a kitchen and bath. Lived in that and rented out the main house for $200 cashflow. Took out HELOC and bought a house in Smyrna, TN. Wired a crook from Craigslist money to install carpet, Had Sheriff evict his *** 6 months later after not receiving anything. Then the property manager sent me a bill for $4500, this was in 2007. Was never able to recover. Have sat on the sidelines ever since, and now I'm ready to jump back in.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

My home town was twice as expensive so I moved 4 hours away to buy a house I could afford

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

MLS. Paid full asking price in 2003

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional 30 year fixed, then added a interest only ARM HELOC

How did you add value to the deal?

Built on a 700sf studio with full kitchen and bath, seperate from main house

What was the outcome?

Figured I would invest out of state and lost both houses

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Never wire a kook off craigslist $2k because he tells you he has some nice carpet in storage he will give you a great deal on because his wife will not move in with the carpet that is there now.
Invest closer to home if this is your second deal ever.
dont use a HELOC to fund your second investment
Get a good mentor that can guide you, not screw you over.
It takes 10 years of your life to get ready to get back in the game..
Please dont do what I did, lol.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

No

Maybe just go for the 1 at$150k to begin with, wait until you have that one all dialed in the way you want it, then go get another one at $150k.

Smaller,safer steps.

Wow, this is great. I just joined BP 2 hours ago in hopes of finding investors here in CA and the first post I see is about Bay Area.

My guess is that after this first round of forbearance at 180 days is over there will be a large amount of property owners that will not have been able to secure refinancing and will go into foreclosure. Then There will be another wave in the following 180 days.

Looking forward to learning from all you pros out there