All Forum Posts by: Michael Barcena

So I've been looking to invest in a property in LA and surrounding areas. But I'm conflicted, I turn 30 this year and have have been in school since I got out of high school and just got my career going. I'm tired of living the LA life if you can even call it that, everything is so pricey that it keeps me from going out, I got two kids and a long term gf. Me and my gf want to invest but also need a quality of life change, we've been looking at moving to areas with lower housing cost like Riverside, with the long term plan of buying to later rent. Anyone else bee where I've been at before? Would love to get another perspective.

@Janelle Carlson

I am looking into buying a duplex with tenants in place. I have a consultation appointment with a law firm that deals with evictions and vacating units tomorrow at 10. I'll be able to get some answers from a reliable source. I'm afraid of the relocation cost/ eviction cost/ cash for keys. This will make or break wether I go forward. I'll post what I learn tomorrow.

The deals in LA how do the numbers look? The properties in LA are 450k +++++. How are you leveraging, cashflow. I look at what's available and can't run numbers that make sense, still learning but I want to know for those who found deals in LA how did the deal make sense to you.

also I should add that one duplex- the rooms are being rented individually

The tenants are on a month to month and only one tenant is up to market rent. any experience with pet rent?

I'm in negotiation on a duplex which was converted from a 2 bed 1 bath each unit to 4 bed 1 bath so total the duplex has 8 bedrooms and 2 baths (1820 sq ft). I checked the records and the rooms are permitted. 

Should this deal go through, should I plan on raising rent w/ 1-year lease and raise the rent? one unit has 3 of the 4 rooms rented and the other unit is just a woman and her husband. Also one of the tenants has 1 dog? or 2? im not sure as there is a shared driveway and I saw 2 dogs when I drove by the other day but it could be the neighbors. 

I plan to charge pet rent but cant find any solid guidelines online on my city site (LA). 

@Caleb Heimsoth

So I went to the county today and... They're LEGAL! I thought they were not going to be but turns out the owner got permits for many of the other things I noticed.

@Salvatore Lentini

Investing in LA, is it even worth it at this point? Prices so high on avg a 20% down payment needed is 100k +, rents are high but barely cover mortgage.

So I found a Duplex in LA priced well compared to other comps. I walked through it today with my realtor and found that it is listed for two but it has a basement just as big as the living space above it. Top and bottom are split down the middle. I am able to tell that in the past they did use it as a Fourplex but then scrapped the bottom two units.

My question is has anyone found something like this and successful converted duplex to four. If so what was the process?

I'm starting my due diligence, I'm going to the assessor's office on Monday to see what the plans say and ask about turning it into a Fourplex if possible and what I need. If so, ARV based on comps also for fixed up similar properties will be a pretty penny 100k least possibly 150k and the rent would be able to bring in minimum 6k a month upward of 7.2k.

@Mat O'Grady thank you for the goal setting questions. Goal: 10K in Cash flow. Management comfort- really want to be hands on in management in the next 5 years and then have a company manage. Time : have 9-5 now but that will soon change to 3 12 hour night shifts, so I will have the time.