All Forum Posts by: Minka Sha

Are there any recommended books for real estate investors? Just wondering if you guys had any books that were particularly good.

Keep in mind, ultimately, it comes down to what cap rates you are comfortable with. 

Great. I'm curious to hear what the pros have to say as well. I think team comes down to two things: 1) your requirements 2) the search

For #1, you would need to think about what your and your properties needs are. Are you looking for a hand-man that can do it all or a property manager or a company? What are your plans for future scaling the business? 

For #2, it's networking, networking, networking. Join local real estate clubs. For example, in Sacramento there is a meetup group for biggerpockets.com. 

That's my 2 cents.

Is there a door on the laundry room? Does that door have a lock? Add one if there isn't one in case it's someone from outside stealing.

See if you can figure out their reservation price, i.e.,  the maximum they will be willing to provide. Right now, they have given you the lowest - remember, it's almost a done deal but if you walk, they will have to relist, look for more buyers, etc, or even pay another month's mortgage. Do you know why they are selling? So what's the next step? Counter their offer.

Next step would be to do a give-and-take. Lower your want from $6400 to $6270 and then ask for something else of value (to YOU - carpet cleaning or professional cleaning, etc in the offer.  See what they come back with. 

Can you take out a home equity line of credit and use that for your friend's 20 percent?

I doubt HOA has time to do vendetta against a particular family. I'd say look at other reasons as well as this may be a case of observations not necessarily be the causation. Have you talked to tenants - aren't they supposed to be responsible for these units?

This looks great! What area of Sacramento is this?

Thank you for a reply. I included my own time because it will be my first property and that would mean 1-2 hours of headache each month. In Sacramento area, whenever I have rented, the owners pay for the water.

I'm trying to learn how to spot a BAD DEAL. 

Property is a Tahoe Park duplex (2BR, 1BA, 1 Garage each unit) near 65th and broadway. 

Even at 100k below the listing price, the monthly cash flow is merely 26 bucks! Can you give example of a GOOD DEAL? I want an example so I can see if there is such a thing still in the market.

FINANCING

List price: 259900

Offer Price $159,900.00

down payment $31,980.00

loan taken $127,920.00

Rate (4.5%)

Periods (30 yr)360

# of Units: 2

INCOME

Monthly Rental $1,700.00

COSTS

mortgage $645.73

insurance (fixed) $83.33

vacancy rate $136.00

taxes $159.90

property mgmt company $170.00

water bill, sewer, garbage $184.00

cost of MY time $75.00

misc big ticket items and city fees $220.00

TOTAL MONTHLY EXPENSES (with mortgage) $1,673.96

TOTAL MONTHLY EXPENSES (without mortgage) $1,028.23

Monthly cash flow (with mortgage) $26.04

Cash on Cash return: 1%

cap rate(mortgage not included): 7.7%