All Forum Posts by: Minh Nguyen

Hey! I'm a veteran software engineer and have been studying real estate for the past year or so. I'd like to offer my services to experienced local investors. The work doesn't necessarily need to be tech related but I figured I'd use my strengths. For the most part, I'm just looking to work with and learn from investors on a real live business.

I'm a game developer at my day job but here's some ideas on what I might be able to help you out with:

- Data mining
- Web maintenance
- Automation/integration of tools
- Development of tools/apps

Feel free to message me if you'd like to work together!

I'm actually looking at some properties out there in AV. What kind of cap rates for apartment buildings are you guys seeing out there?

@Michael Evans would love to link up with you sometime!

@Archie Robb Finding a duplex in my budget and constraints looked impossible.

Thanks guys, this is helpful.

@Ciprian L. I'm looking for a single family

Hi,

I'm considering buying my first home in LA as my primary residence. I will probably live in it for a couple years then rent it out and hold for long term. I'm looking at central LA for the most part, from Culver City to Silverlake and everything in between and around the 550-650k price range. I'll also be looking to pick up rental properties out of state after this purchase.

This seems to make more sense than renting at the moment with the interest rates and tax advantages. However, everything I've looked at so far is cash flow negative. I'm sure there are great deals out there but I'm not sure if/when I'll find it - and at some point, there will probably be diminishing returns on my efforts.

A couple questions to help me understand when I've found something good enough:

1. Do I just need to dig deeper or is this pretty much how it is in LA for the time being?
2. Can I take a little weight off the cash flow numbers since I'll be living it in for a few years?  Or is it an absolute sin to pick up something  that isn't at least cash flow neutral? I expect rents to continue to appreciate over the years, but what do I know.

@Kuba F. Will definitely check those out, thanks!

@Archie Robb It's pretty much a numbers game. I've flipping homes in California to build some cash reserves. My dad is a general contractor which helps but trying to find deals in my spare time is proving rather difficult.

Hey guys, my name is Minh Nguyen. I just moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles, CA. I’ve been poking around on BP for a bit now but felt I should make a formal introduction.

I am a software engineer by trade. I started writing software at age 14 and graduated from UCSD with a degree in Computer Science a little under a decade ago (I'm now 30 years old). I’m currently employed full-time at a large software company and highly regarded amongst my peers.

Although software is one my great passions, my desire for financial freedom is greater and grows with each passing day. I want to be able to “retire” by the time I’m 40 so I can.. do whatever the hell I want, duh! I’ve always had an entrepreneurial itch, partly because I’m a problem solver and business has some intriguing problems to solve.

So far, it appears that real estate investing is the most viable path towards my goal. I’ve been working through various real estate books and lurking around the Bigger Pockets forums. I’m aiming to close my first couple deals by the end of the year while maintaining my day job. My long term goal (at the moment) is to specialize in commercial multi-family properties.

I would love to start connecting with some of the awesome folks here. I’m deeply analytical and have great attention to detail. If you have deals you might need a little extra help on, I might be your guy!