All Forum Posts by: Max Ball

Everything looks amazing but the kitchen/family room, wow. Spectacular job. I finished my last flip in Reno in August 2018 and it looked like a similar battle to yours . 

I decided to get into the fintech scene in LA after that and now I'm with a real-estate start-up using AI to find low-income neighborhoods all of the US that are primed for future gentrification. It's going to make finding the next money-maker a piece of cake. I'm excited and good luck on the next one!

@Mary M. It's crazy once you look back and realize this happens everywhere! The Mission in San Francisco is definitely one of the the best examples of this. Going to Burning Man and asking everyone where they live or are moving too actually isn't a bad idea... I might have to start looking into that!

@John Hickey Yes sir! It's a great study. There are a couple other studies from Stanford and USC that have helped spur my interest in this phenomenon as well.

@Chris Mason Thanks for your feedback, Chris! I am from LA so that may explain why I've been hearing about this so much. I'm in the process of testing this hypothesis and I've actually looked back at a ton of neighborhoods that have gentrified in the past and they've all followed a similar path based on exactly what you described. The only difference nowadays, in 2018, is you just replace "artists" with "millennial hipsters" and you're good to go!

I've heard this theory my whole life.

Are people in real estate actually following 'artists' to find up-and-coming neighborhoods to invest/develop properties in? 

If so, how are you finding these specific types of people?

@Tony Kim The Opportunity Zones were decided via data from the 2010 Census so, as you mentioned, there are OZ's with million dollar condos as well as OZ's in some of the most crime ridden, lowest-income areas in the US. I know where I live in LA, There are two OZ's right next to each other: one over Skid Row, one of the lowest-income streets in the US, and one over The Arts District which has been gentrifying for the past 5 years and now has million dollar condos on every street corner.

@Jimmy Klein Just before you sell it if I'm not mistaken.

@Jimmy Klein From what I've read you have to spend at least the same $ amount on improvements as you did purchasing the property.

@Jimmy Klein It's both. The biggest question still up in the air is: Do you have to hold a single property in an OZ via an Opportunity Fund for 10 years to receive 100% deferred capital gains on appreciation, OR can you essentially 1031 exchange every 2-3 years across multiple opportunity zones and still get the 100% deferred capital gains. I'm hoping for the latter.

@Russell Brazil Thanks for your feedback, Russell. The issue is, to reap any tax benefits, you would have to invest in an OZ via a Qualified Opportunity Fund. I do agree these are high risk areas, but in my opinion the reward is even more substantial because it's essentially inorganic gentrification which could drive up prices exponentially.