All Forum Posts by: Brandon Heath

@Ian M.

No Im not a contractor. I work at HD Supply in HVAC. So pretty much Im good at giving you an idea of some prices. As far as technical suggestions, probably not the best person lol. R22 and R410A are the refrigerants you would be using. R22 is being phased out ad R410A is the newer stuff. If your quote includes install  you are not to far off with pricing. Goodman is well priced brand with great reputation and just for a replacement condenser your looking at $750

I would verify if your using R22 or not. Also verify if they are bumbing you up to R410A. Everyone will have to do it eventually, may be a good idea just to do it now.

Other great Brands are lenux (priced around goodmans range) also Trane and Carrier (bryant) are the top of the line but much pricier.

Let me know if you have any other questions. Good Luck!

Is there a brand you wanted to stay with? Is it just a Condencer or is it a Heat Pump? R22 or R410A?

Welcome @Traver Freeman! Yes, San Diego has a way of bringing smart, ambitious men to their knees! I'm an SD native and over the years the city/county definitely has a high rate of return. I'm from here and I haven't landed that first deal either. My story is probably a lot closer to yours as well. Just getting started, tired of renting, we have a 2 year old. I'm currently working on my Debt to income ratio to hopefully be ready to jump on a multi house hack next year.

One thing you'll notice about SD is that everything is Super Competitive! From houses to cars (ask @Tim G. About competitive cars) So as far as deals, you really have to find stuff that are off the MLS to get a decent deal. More then likely anything you can find on a listing has probably been looked over and left behind by 5000 investors with a lot more experiance. Not that this makes things easier but from what ive scene over the past year or so is you really have to make it happen. Its possible! I'm also aware that it may take longer then you and I would like.

Anyways I feel every area has its own struggles so just don't give up right away. We will find a way eventually. Fight the good fight!

@Conway Churaman

I completely know where you are coming from. I am currently counting down the hours until I have to clock into my Cubicle, AKA "land where dreams go to DIE". I have been at my company for almost 9 years. It takes every a miracle from God to keep me from quitting. And it's not even like a daily miracle, I would call it an hourly act of God! I mean I hate this place with a passion. So just know that you are not alone.

One thing that really helped me keep a grip on my sanity was a book called Quitter. Its from a guy named Jon Acuff, and he is not to different from you and I. He actually had quite 6 jobs in less than 8 years before finally figuring out what he wanted to do. He has some great advice straight from the fox holes. You can read the first chapter for free on amazon. 

http://www.amazon.com/Quitter-Closing-Between-Your...

Give it a try and Im sure you'll wanna read more. Its a quick easy read and the guys is hilarious. 

Any ways I know you already received a lot of great suggestions. I also believe that you should grit your teeth together, walk back into the office and give them hell! (in a good employee/ your not going to push me out of here type of way). I know you can do it cause in 6 hours 10 minutes I have to do it. Keep up the fight bro, we can make it!

Welcome @DanielPeimbert

Im a newbie from San Diego also. Bigger pockets is awesome and there is so much to learn. Be sure and set up your keyword alerts for stuff being discussed about San Diego. Hope to see you around.

@Richard C.  Okay so if someones lease is up I can just refuse to let them sign a new one? Or can offer money to have them leave a little sooner then thier lease. And when you say my financial issues are my own and that the leases are binding. You mean all becasue there is a new owner doesnt mean I can break whatever contracts are in place when I get there?

@Roy N.  Thanks for the input. So say the tenant that matches #1& #3 are the same. Would I start my relationship with the property by evicting a tenant once I take ownership? This does sound like the best way to get rid of a potentially problematic tenant. Maybe I need to look into the local laws on leaseing and agreements. So there isnt anything that forces a property to renew a lease as they have a good legal reason?

@Sam Leon I would never, lol. Crazy some places around the us arnt all that far off from this huh?

Hello BP,

This might be an easy question but i cant seem to pull in thing up specific when using the search field. Its one of those question that are kind of hard to word correctly for the search. Please feel free to link any past posts that may help me.

Say a small multi is for sale (2-4 units) and the current owner doesnt live on the property. Now if im interested in purchasing this property using a FHA loan which rquires me to live there for a while. Who gets the boot so that i could move in? Is it the current owners decision? Do i look at the units and decide which one i want? Do I have the 4 Tenants battle it out over some classic Rock Paper Scissors?

Im not as close to pulling a trigger yet but i am looking and learning. Hoping for mid-late 2015!! Thank you all in advanced for your help.

Im not sure if laws might be different in your respective state. Im in California fyi

@Matt C. Thanks for the response. Its something we would have to decide on. The draw of the area for us is the school district. If one of the units were a 3/1 I could see us staying 5 years or so. You mentioned a 5% convetional loan, Im usder the impression that anything under 20% require an FHA loan along with PMI. Could you clear this up for me (as i Mentioned, extremly new)

@Larry T. Living in the property is the only way it makes since. I currently rent from a close family friend who has a duplex and our rent is well below market ($700 including water and electric). So in that since also not jumping up 4x/5x in monthly payments is also one of the draws. Its a great family area that we would love to live in but after everyones input Im begining to see that I may need to go to a chaeper area for a few years and maybe try a little down the line. Thanks for your help

@Aristotle Kumpis & @Sonny Ngo Fur sure I know my local market is horrible as far as a pure investment goes but I do plan on liveing here. Im going to buy a house in the near future anyway, might as well let it pay me a little now and hopefully a lot later. My wife and I had our first child a little over a year ago and where we currently live we are busting at the seems! There is no possible way we can find rent as low as we pay. Even if we didnt mind some ofthe scarier areas of the county, there is just no way. If I rent again I will be putting out at least $1300-$1700, I was just hoping I could envest that money rther then throw it away. Maybe a year or two after i figure this out I would love to try a deal in a different state or area. Thanks for your input, Ill keep my eyes on that Houston market for the future!

@Wendy Noble  In reference to where you mentioned "With rent at $1500pm, you're talking about a return on your investment of roughly 0.28% per month or 3.4% per year". Now is that $1500 considering me living in the propperty as well and paying rent? In either case is the only way you can raise this number (0.28%month  or  3.4%yr) is by lowering your intitial purchase price? (either by the down payment or a cheaper house)

I see your point about being able to earn equal or better on a bond or money market type investment. Can you explain or point me in the direction of a good BP Blog that could me better understand how you came up with those numbers? This way I could run it myself to see whats worth really taking a deeper look into. Thanks for your time!

Just from these few responses I feel im already understanding more then when I first posted. I really appreciate all of you taking time to respond and help me out.

Hello BP!

First of all I am an EXTREME newb to any type of investing, so I apologize in advance for all the needless questions. I live in San Diego county and would like to try and purchase a small multi family in the next 12 months. I've been looking around and trying to get a grasp at maybe what I could be getting myself into. This property is just down the street from me and I cant get it off of my mind (dangerous emotion). So I thought it would be great to run numbers with all of you. I find myself trying to act like this would work and your job it to crush my dreams and save me from myself. 

The property is in Poway California, here is a link to the actual listing Click here. 

• Ranch Style Duplex
• Side by side 2/1
• Asking price $525,000
• Current Rent $1,500 and $1,600
• Rent Comps in the nearby area are $1400-$1600
• Metered separately for water and electric
• Taxes last year $3200
• I would plan to live owner occupant for a few years.

Now I'm almost positive that from this I see why everyone complains about investing in California. With these numbers I would have to put like 30% down just for it to make sense. I of course would looking for an FHA loan but with these numbers that's basically suicide!  Highly unlikely I would be ready for this deal anyways but i thought it would be great to learn what type of numbers I should be looking for. 

Whats up BP!

My Names Brandon Heath and I live in San Diego Ca. I currently work at HD Supply as a Special orders rep. It's a basic cubicle job that brings most men to tears....Daily! I've been there for 7 years and plan my escape every free moment I have. 

5 year ago I started a Photography business that I've done pretty well at. I can no longer call it my side gig cause its pretty much my main source of income. The main reason im still clasping to the 9-5 is cause my wife and I plan on purchasing a house in the next 6-12 months.  

2 months ago I made the Horrible mistake of purchasing Rich Dad Poor Dad on Audible. I finished it in about 8 hours, by the time I was done, my whole future was basically changed! I started my in depth internet search for passive income and it kept leading to posts from BP. So I said what the heck, if I'm gonna do this, then lets do it!

My wife and I are High school sweethearts and we have a 14 month old named Kingston. We currently rent 3 bed rooms from a very close family friend who had to much house and not enough people or stuff. Unfortunately we are busting at the seems here and it is time to make a big move. If all goes well im hoping we can make our first purchase a small multi. I still have a lot to learn and I'm stoked to be apart of such a great group. 

Thank you all for your time and I look forward to meeting and connecting with all of you in the future!

Brandon