All Forum Posts by: Matt Pendleton

@Tony Choe One thing you can do to speed up the process is to complete and send in your Exam/License application a few weeks before completing the final course of the education requirement. Then as soon as you have the transcripts/completion certificates for your 3 courses, mail/fax them to Cal BRE and ask that they be attached to your application file.

Late last year I was able to get my license in just under 7 weeks from the time I signed up for my courses until the day I took the exam. I only had to complete RE Principles and RE Practice (used an accounting class from college for the third course), so if you have to do all three classes it would take an extra 2.5 weeks (although I actually could have taken the exam 6 days earlier but I was out of town). Here's my timeline in case it helps:

11/11/16 – Signed up for approved RE courses (OnlineEd)
11/15/16 – Mailed combined exam/license app
11/29/16 – Completed RE Principles
11/30/16 – Application fee was charged to CC
12/17/16 – Completed RE Practice
12/17/16 – Mailed transcripts
12/20/16 – Faxed transcripts as a backup
12/21/16 – Received notice of exam approval
12/22/16 – Scheduled exam for 12/29 (soonest available I could attend)
12/29/16 – Passed exam and issued license

Matt

Thanks for sharing @Ori Skloot, and I like your creative use of financing on this deal!

I'm curious about the rebates you got from PG&E and EBMUD. I'm working on a project in Oakland that needs some sewer lateral work in order to get the certification, and I haven't heard of any rebate programs.

For the PG&E rebates, was this through the Advanced Home Upgrade program? If so, was it a pain to qualify? It looks like you have to go through one of PG&E's qualified contractors, and after a quick search it doesn't look like there are too many who are part of the program.

It looks like you're earning a return on your SFH investment that is greater than the 8.5% you're paying on your student loan, so from a pure return on investment perspective you're better off not paying off the student loan debt. But there are other things to consider:

1. For some people the peace of mind of having less debt is worth more than the extra return you could make by investing the funds.
2. Conversely, not paying off the student loan is somewhat of a safety net. Let's say you were to lose your job or come into hard times. You could put the student loan into deferment and stop making payments (and if they're subsidized loans they wouldn't even accrue interest), while still collecting the cash flow from the SFH. And you could even sell the SFH if you needed the funds. But if you sell the SFH and pay off the student loan debt you don't have that to fall back on.
3. What's your family situation? Government-backed student loan debt is generally forgiven if you die (assuming that you haven't consolidated it together with a spouse's debt), which is certainly valuable to your heirs if something were to happen to you. Not sure if this applies to private student loans...
4. At a minimum I would look into refinancing your student loan debt. Depending on your income & credit history, you should be able to refinance at a much lower rate. Check out one of the newer lenders like SoFi. Their current fixed rate is as low as 3.375% (variable of 2.345%), and it's a really easy process.

Hello BP! I've been listening to podcasts and reading books non-stop since finding BP a few months ago, and figured it was finally time to post something. I've lived in the Bay Area off-and-on for several years and currently call San Ramon home. I work full-time in SF and am new to Real Estate Investing, so BP has made my daily BART commute much more tolerable!

I just purchased my first fix & flip property with a neighbor/partner last month, and it's been quite the learning experience. There's certainly a lot more that goes into the rehab process than I thought!

I'm looking to do a few more fix & flips over the coming year and then adding some buy & holds, most likely out of state (or at least out of the Bay Area). To that end I'm interested in meeting other local investors and it looks like there are several REIA groups in the Bay Area to choose from. Any recommendations on a good one for a new investor to attend?

Matt