All Forum Posts by: Nick Coonis

@Moses Kagan sorry I'm new so this may be a lame question, but would you calculate your yield percentage on the total cost of the project (acquisition fees, purchase price, rehab costs, maintenance, etc.) or just a return on the actual out of pocket cash you put into the deal? Is there a simple equation for calculating gross and net yield percentage?

I understood what you meant @Derek Carroll That's another great point that I hadn't considered. 

@Elizabeth Colegrove  yes I definitely want to stay in middle class blue collar neighborhoods. I live in a city that borders Orange County and Los Angeles County, and the rental market around here is pretty high. I plan on targeting the cities that border the east side of the 605 fwy like Whittier, Downey, Norwalk, etc. Rents there still stay pretty high but there are some bad neighborhoods in those cities as well. Thanks for the comments!

Thank you @Hattie Dizmond That's great information. I didn't even consider the Hybrid model to buying and holding. I'm a "systems" guy and I love well thought out planning, that's how I function best and how I'm trying to write my business plan. I appreciate your help. 

Hello BP, I'm planning my business and designing my strategy, which will be to primarily fix and flip while holding on to a unit here and there to keep as a rental. This is the model that most excites me. I know a lot of people debate about fix and flip being "investing" or just a job, but frankly I don't really care. I like to work, just not at my current job or for any employer for that matter. I especially love residential designing, construction and remodeling, but I also want to build a longterm investment portfolio and eventually be able to retire from rehabbing. Currently I'm putting together my business plan and it is full of systems and criteria, because this is how I work best.

My questions is, I want to design some criteria on what would make me decide to keep a property after rehabbing it, instead of reselling it. What makes fix and flippers hold a property? Is it strictly decided upon from a financial stand point? Do you base it on the neighborhood and rental market? On the house itself? I want to spell out a clear system in my plan that has specific parameters for cherry picking buy and holds. Thanks for your insight.

I'd also like to attend. Clint I sent you my email. Thanks!

Thanks for all the info @Andrew Werner, I appreciate your insight. What markets do you invest in now? @Matt R., we love Acton. It's a whole different world their, and hard to believe it's in LA. Seems like you're in the Midwest somewhere. I am going to build a home on my property to live in with my family. Acton will be home base. @Ali Boone I appreciate your honest opinion. To all of you, suggest any markets in So-Cal, meaning anywhere from Bakersfield to south Orange County, Riverside, San Bernardino, etc, that would still fare well for a new investor? Or am I in the wrong state for this?

Hello, I'm a newb from Southern California, and I'm in the process of building a business plan/strategy to start investing. I live right on the border of LA and Orange County, and I know both if those cities are a tough hill to climb, especially for a newb with no money. So my question is, what is a good market in So-Cal to get started? 

There are cities near me where the real estate market is much lower than "the big city", towns like Whittier, Norwalk, Pico Rivera, etc. but these cities seem like the lower priced homes are mostly in bad neighborhoods.

My other option is, I own some property up in the northern part of LA county in a little town called Acton. While the market there is pretty pricey, 20 miles up the road is Palmdale. The market there is much more affordable, but is it a worth while place to invest? I know you can get some really cheap houses, but what's the rental market like in the Antelope Valley? I know the High Speed Rail is eventually going to have a station there (and it's also threatening to cut through my property in Acton, buts thats another story) but is that a good thing? 

By the way I'm looking to fix/flip houses for living income, and also acquire rentals, apartments and SFR's, for long term. I also want to develop raw land and build SFR's as a strategy, starting with my Acton property. We've found a builder, picked a house design, and we're about to pull the trigger on that, but it's a home for my family and I to live in. If it works out (on paper the numbers look great) then I'd like to use that model for investing. Is Palmdale a good place to build though? Not sure if the price to build would leave any room for equity in that area, but maybe it's a good market to find good buy and hold deals.

Any insight or knowledge of any of these markets would be much appreciated. Thanks! And thanks for the warm welcome to BP!

We just went and walked through some modulars models yesterday, they were gorgeous! We are deciding between two, one was a 4 bed 3 bath 1782 sqf, the other was 3 bed 2 bath 1920. The 1782 sqf was $147,000, and the 1920 sqf was $155,000 out the door installed, including delivery and set up. does not include foundation and utilities tie in, septic, etc. does include cabinets, finished drywall, flooring, standard appliance, light fixtures, master bath with separate shower and jacuzzi tub, etc. 

they also provide a turn key product. They pull permits, act as the general, etc. in our sit down he assured me the modulars are recorded as single family homes with the county, appraisers appraise them as SFR's, and you don't ever have to disclose how it was built. Any lender will lend on it as a normal house, because its a regular home. I even asked if we could do site built additions to it in the future, he said of course we can.

The way he explained it, it's a "real" house built the exact same way as any other site built house, just in a controlled environment. When you go to sell a home, you don't have to explain to the buyer exactly how your builder built it, most people don't even know Howe their home was built. An appraiser has to either check off "manufactured" or "SFR" on his appraisal report. Since its not a manufactured, and it is an SFR'S, that how he'll appraise it. Appraisal reports don't have sub cats girlies under SFR, i.e. stud framed, brick built, metal studs, modular, etc. it's just a SFR to an appraiser.

I can tell you from experience, modular homes can be a cheaper and better built option in certain situations. At least in California, "modular" is a "prefabbed" home, built to the exact same California building code standards as a site built home, PLUS so extra provisions added because it has to withstand being towed on a flatbed truck. 

I designed a site built home that was 1900 sqf to build on my land, and after it was bid on we discovered it was to expensive with two many upgrades. We went and sat with a modular builder, choose on of their stock plans of around the same square footage, and it was MUCH more cost effective for us. Could we have redesigned a site built home with the same upgrades as the stock modular for closer to the same price? Maybe. But the modularis more streamlined, the builder also is the general and provides a turn key product with cabinets and appliances installed before it even gets to the site. 

@Joe Villeneuve no lenders, at least in California have issues with modulars. Once they are built, they are SFR's and they are recorded with the county that way. You don't even have to disclose that it was built in a factory when you sell it.

@Rusty Thompson modulars have higher overhead? Not from what I've research. @Karen Margrave is correct, they are produced in a production line in a factory set up for it, out of the weather. That's how they build them cheaper.