All Forum Posts by: Miles Bennett

I'm looking for wholesalers who have some potential flips! In San Antonio for the weekend and looking to take a look at as many properties as possible!! 

Let me know if you or anyone you know has something worth taking a look at! Definitely willing to at least take a look at any potential deals. Looking forward to connecting with you guys! 

Feel free to direct message me with your contact info and I will give you a call tomorrow or Sat. 

Miles

Hi Tunde! I'm just seeing this now and noticed that nobody has replied to you. Clayton Pickens is an excellent REA in San Antonio as he is also an investor (owns 10 or so units that he rents). He is extremely patient and willing to help people. Never gives you a BS ARV or CMA and genuinely wants to help. I recommend giving him a call!

Here's his info: https://www.trulia.com/profile/clayton-pickens-age...

Hope this helps! 

Welcome to Bigger Pockets, Jonathan! I'm new to the world of real estate investing, as well. I'm actually living in Los Angeles at the moment (tough market to get into with a high barrier to entry and low price-to-rent ratios) which has led me to the idea of long-distancing investing in San Antonio. My father lives in Helotes, and I was recently there and had the chance to meet with a real estate investor/agent who owns 10 units as a buy and hold investor. 

What area are you looking to target? I have it narrowed down to somewhere in the NW part of San Antonio, outside loop 410 but inside loop 1604. It seems to me that 3bed/2bath homes are a requirement to to reduce vacancies (buy and hold) and holding costs (flip) in that area, plus the school ratings are decent. Desirability in SA seems to be heavily driven by school ratings for family homes, and proximity to the bases or medical center for smaller units (condos or apts). I'll be targeting single-family homes with good school ratings that I can purchase at a discount for one reason or another. Ideally I'd find a 2bed/2bath where I could reorganize the floor plan to create an extra bedroom. 

Very interested to hear what your tentative strategy is for this area! 

@Nabil Suleiman Thanks for replying to my post, Nabil! Yes, my number 1 goal is to get enough cash flow to leave my 9-5. The ADU idea is a great idea, I'm just not sure I'm prepared to take that steep of a downgrade from my current living situation. Though I understand it is a short(ish)-term solution, it would be still be quite a change.

Investing out of state is something that is becoming more and more attractive. The question has become - do I need to live in that state close the neighborhood I'm investing in? You mentioned that your next investments will be out of state, though you do have some properties in Pasadena and S Pasadena. Will you be moving out of state, or will you stay in the LA area? Either way, curious as to your plans to manage these properties remotely. 

Thanks, Nabil! 

@Lee Ripma Thank you so much for responding, Lee. I actually used to live in Hollywood, and have since moved to West LA. It's very interesting to hear you say that you are a real estate investor and are renting. It's something I haven't come across too often in my studies - so I'm very intrigued. Echo Park is a great area (also seems to be getting nicer every year), so it seems to me like it may be a decent long term investment opportunity. Purchase a rehab single family home below market value with a conventional loan, FHA loan, or 203k loan (to include repairs), depending on your liquid capital, hold onto it for a few years and let appreciation do it's thing. It's a long-term strategy and is contingent on your ability to make the payments on yours loans, but if you're living there already could be worth it?

My other follow-up is regarding your out-of-state investments. How did you become knowledgeable in the Kansas City Market, and beyond that, knowledgeable in your target neighborhood? How many properties do you own in KC? How do you manage the properties there? How frequently do you go there? Do you invest under an LLC or Corporation, or are you a sole proprietorship? I apologize for all of these questions, but it seems as though this works for you, and I'd love for it to work for me as well. I have a life here in LA, and leaving it behind to pursue real estate investing is certainly doable, but it wouldn't be ideal.

Thanks, Lee! 

@Chris Mason Thanks for that detailed reply! City-Data seems like it's a great resource anywhere. In LA there are certainly places that fall into this category. Unfortunately, finding reasonable prices is the tough, near impossible part. Culver City, and Inglewood are the two dark shades on this map that standout to me - Culver City has more young professionals than ever, and Inglewood is getting the new stadium for the Chargers/Rams. Inglewood appears to be my best bet at the moment (However, not someone I'd want to live yet. Perhaps in a few years it will be "livable." I don't mean this to sound snobby, it's just the reality of that area right now.)

With that being said, still not sold on LA! I'm going to do some digging and see what else I turn up. 

Just made my first post here to introduce myself so won't go into that too much, but I'd like to start this post with this question, and elaborate on it a bit below: Is it feasible for a first time investor to start investing in Los Angeles real estate? 

My business partner and I will be using our own funding and creative financing to purchase our first hack (we are currently renters). We live in Los Angeles and rent a nice enough apartment, but housing prices are sky high. I have a full time corporate job here with a salary that makes it hard to justify walking away from. Ultimately (and hopefully in the near future), walking away from this 9-5 is the goal, but first we need enough cash flow to do that. 

With that being said, my current predicament is this: It seems very difficult to start investing in LA because the only multi family homes under 400k are in VERY undesirable areas, but this is where my job is so I can't leave town for a more desirable place to invest in real estate. 

Final Question: What would you do? 

Hi all, 

I'm jumping into real estate for the first time at 26 years old in Los Angeles, CA. I'm partnering with my great friend and roommate from Syracuse University. 

I have a corporate 9-5 job that allows me to save money, but doesn't afford me too much free time. My partner is independently wealthy, with free time and money that he wants to start working for him. We are currently renting, and looking to possibly start with a house hack (though affordable multi-family properties are few and far between in LA, so we aren't expecting our prospecting process to be short). 

I just read Brandon Turner's book "The book on investing in real estate with no and low money down" which led me to Bigger Pockets. Of course at this state the name of the game is LEARN - which I have been doing through every book I can get my hands on.  

I'm excited to start some discussions here on the forum to learn from the veterans and with the newbies. Any words of wisdom or simple hellos are always welcome!