All Forum Posts by: Ori Skloot

I invest in all of Richmond, it's just a matter of your own comfort with rougher areas.  North Richmond is unincorporated so no rent control, but definitely not a great part of town.  That said, I own some properties there and they are doing quiet well.  It's all about finding good tenants.  

Hey Donald,

Regarding your comment on Richmond, I think there are more opportunities in Richmond than Oakland.  Just like Oakland, you have to know the area very well to understand the good/bad pockets.  If you are doing an owner-occupied multi then you can move into any of the units.  A good play might be to find a multi that has good rents but perhaps one apartment that is far below market rent and move into that apartment.  That gives you a leg up over investors that are underwriting the property with the low rent and rent-control.

@Christian Bachelder Thanks so much, will do.

@Rick H.  Hi Rick.  

Thanks for all your invaluable input to the BP community.  I have come across your posts numerous times and found them to be very valuable.  Would you still recommend the Examiner's Manual from the CA County Recorders Association as a good resource for learning about the title process and documents?  Do you have a recommendation for any other books or resources?    Thanks in advanced for any tips!

Here is my request from my related post

"Does anyone know of a free-lancer who is or has been a title abstractor in California and would be interested in joining my team?

Alternatively, anyone know of a good book that would help me understand how to interpret title documents? I understand the basic documents: assignment, reconveyence, deed of trust, trustee sale, etc. But still when I look online or I'm down at the county recorder's office, I don't feel like I can tell what, exactly, a title company pull for their title report.

Any help recommendations or referrals would be much appreciated!

Thanks,

Ori"

Hi there,

An area where I keep finding that I need to learn more about or bring someone onto my team is title abstract and how to interpret all the legal documents filed at the county.   

Does anyone know of a free-lancer who is or has been a title abstractor in California and would be interested in joining my team? 

Alternatively, anyone know of a good book that would help me understand how to interpret title documents? I understand the basic documents: assignment, reconveyence, deed of trust, trustee sale, etc.  But still when I look online or I'm down at the county recorder's office, I don't feel like I can tell what, exactly, a title company pull for their title report.

Any help recommendations or referrals would be much appreciated! 

Thanks,

Ori

@Isaac Beane Let me know if you get any referrals.  I have also had difficulty finding investor-friendly title companies that are willing to work on non cookie-cutter deals.  Yes, they will happily take my business, but I haven't found anyone who will give advice and be pro-active about pushing the deal through.

Yes that’’s correct.  But with the possible repeal of Costa Hawkins then the rules may change yet again and could become even more tenant-friendly. 

@Chris Martin Thanks Chris! Strangely, this property doesn't have an HOA setup. There are four condos and three owners. I reached out to the other two owners about pitching in money to do some common areas repairs and they are pretty passé about keeping up the property. We will see how much of a challenge that ends up presenting.

@Matt K. and @Account Closed  I was trying to say that the probate process as it pertained to this property spanned over many years because the heirs to the owner’s estate each lawyered-up and were fighting over the estate.

Awesome information @Chris Mason  Thanks!

@Terry Evans Excellent question, one which I have pondered myself when people talk about a 2% response rate.  I'm no expert at this but I imagine the 2% is based on EACH mailing and is the average of those mailings.  

For example:

1st Mailing - 1,000 letters and 20 people call = 2% response rate

2nd Mailing - 980 letters (assuming you aren't mailing to the 20 that called you) and 30 people call =   3% response

3rd Mailing - 950 letters and 15 people call = 1.57%

So, your average response rate is the sum of the calls divided by the sum of the letters (65 calls/2930 mailings) = 2.2%