All Forum Posts by: Osazee Edebiri

Quote from @Becca F.:

@Oli Cimet

I would be careful about house hacking in Oakland and if you're looking at $550k for a SFH in Oakland, it's probably not going to be the safest neighborhood. If you rent out a property in Oakland, you can't legally discriminate against someone with a criminal background, except a sex offender - there's a bit more protection if you're house hacking and live on the property. Alameda County has high property taxes and there are 25 special assessments on Oakland property tax bills.

I have rental property in S.F. and I know in S.F., Oakland, and Berkeley if you want to get the tenant out (e.g. want to sell, move back in) you have to pay the tenant a relocation fee. This varies depending on number of tenants, if there are minor children, if the tenant has a disability, over age 65 etc. Those 3 cities are strongly pro-tenant - research your landlord-tenant laws carefully and if you write a lease up have a RE attorney review it.  I don't know about other Bay Area cities and the relocation fee - maybe look other in those areas like Daly City like Wilson mentioned? 

As far as OOS investing, read my post below. I don't recommend the Midwest unless you do Class A or B, which will not positive cash flow with long term rentals (maybe MTR or STR depending on location) at current 7% interest rates. The cheap "cash flow on paper" Class C properties even if renovated will be a huge headache with repairs, tenant issues and won't appreciate enough to make up for my losses. My property taxes also increase in Indiana with no limit (no Prop 13 like CA). You need to have a strong boots on the ground team that you trust for OOS investing to work.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/1165499-whats.

Feel free to DM me, if you have further questions. Good luck!

 @Oli Cimet I sentiment @Becca F. concerns on house hacking. I am born and raised here in the Bay and been house hacking since 2012. The main thing is just doing a great job of vetting your tenants. Meet them in person, don't let them move in with one day or same day notice. Make sure their deposit and first months rent payment clears before you give them keys or allow them to move in. Things like this. 

I don't see a bad time to buy in the Bay Area, as long as whoever is buying is qualified and has 3 to 6 months of rainy day reserve money (to cover things like tech layoffs, all of my clients I talk to that where laid-off found new work within this time period). I think the main thing that changes with the market cycle, especially in the Bay Area, is what type of investment strategy one does. However, I don't think you can go wrong with the house hacking strategy, offers the lowest down payment and interest rates to buy expensive Bay Area properties. If ones life adjust down the line, they have options, sell to reposition if they need to move out of state, hold on to it and rent it to gain appreciation in the future, etc.  

This is more of a question to get a pulse type survey of BP investors. 

So over the last couple years plus there has been mass discussion about exodus out of the state of California. We can definitely see trends of where people move to places like Florida for retirement. Bay Area specific (San Franciso even more specifically) was affected by the pandemic and tech work related migration. Places like Austin soared with tech, to where many no longer consider those parts of Texas affordable. Seattle in Washington being similar. 

With all that California still remains the most populated state by at least 8 million, numbers are different depending on which sources you look at.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/states

So a few thoughts/questions.

Does California continue to go down in population, if so how long? Or is it indefinitely (I think some in this forum would love that haha)

Does (or at some point in time) this population decline make California a better place to look at investing than other States? 

One the number one issues aside from price point that people mention as a challenge for California it is a tenant friendly state. Do people think some of the laws and legislature will change/ ease up in the future?

Just some New Year thoughts.

Quote from @Mohammed Nasser:

Hello BP Family,

I am currently employed full time as a scientist in the biotech sector and, alongside my dedication to science, I have a passion for real estate. Being a sociable individual who enjoys connecting with people, I decided to get my California real estate license, aiming to try my hand as a real estate agent in the vibrant Bay Area. Having completed all the requisite coursework, I am waiting approval to take the real estate license exam. My plan is to start my real estate journey as a part-time agent, and I plan to look for a brokerage that is open to giving me an opportunity.

To the seasoned agents within the BP community, I would greatly appreciate any insights into the resources you use regularly to stay informed on market conditions and news. I would also love to hear any recommendations on finding suitable brokerages, effective prospecting strategies, and any other valuable advice you may have. I recently read the book "Sold" by David Greene, which offered a wealth of useful recommendations, and I plan to read it again for further insights. Thank you in advance for any valuable input you can provide! 

 Hey @Mohammed Nasser welcome to the real estate agent journey. 

As @Brandon Vukelich said it will be easy to get into a brokerage, once you pass your license exam, you mail box will be full with requests from different brokers asking you to join.

As far as resources, to stay up to date, I like podcasts since I drive a lot and new episodes come out regularly so it's always up to date. Such as the BP podcasts. Your brokerage or team you join should also have constant updates on what's going on in the market, if they don't you are in the wrong place. Aside from knowledge, effective agents build relationships, so you will also want to focus some of your time on this. I have seen many agents that enter the field thinking their friends and family will all buy and sell with them and that they have an expansive network only to not do a single transaction in a year. Cultivating is harder than people thing, you have to plant your seeds and water them. 

Good luck, let me know any other questions you have and keep us posted on how it goes.

Quote from @Nadia Daggett:

Presently, I've noticed a surge in foreclosures emerging in Tampa Bay. I'm curious if this uptick is due to many investors being involved in hard money loans and now facing the need to refinance, unexpectedly encountering significantly higher interest rates compared to a few years back. Are you observing a similar situation?

Definitely starting to see them, I have helped clients purchase a few. However, I don’t think you’ll be as bad as some people are thinking, especially since the market is shifting and interest rates are trending down. More buyers will come into the market, which will end up bailing out those who are close to foreclosure, but just need to survive till their properties purchased. 

Quote from @Carlos Ptriawan:

Quote from @Christina Baliva:

Hi BP friends!

As we approach 2024, which markets are you all looking more closely at for fix and flip projects? 

 bay area california, only local moving forward.

Oooohh that’s taboo to all the get out of California peeps.

Quote from @Lor Fara:

I’ve finished my first flip in October in Richmond CA.  A single family, 3 beds, 2 baths, huge yard.  The house turned out great after renovations.  It’s listed at $650k based on comps.   It didn’t sell in 40 days though.  
My agent says it a combination of the time of year, rates and city reputation in general.  Although this neighborhood is very safe with nice neighbors, buyers and even brokers say there’s a “stigma” associated with the town.  

All that being said, a much less nice house with the same parameters a few blocks up sold in two weeks for the same price.   

In any case the question is what should I do now: 

- delist it and relist in March (what my agent proposes) - on the basis that more people buy in the Spring.   Is this true in CA where the  weather doesn’t change?  I’m not crazy about the idea of paying mortgage for another 2-3 months.  I’d have to refinance asap in this scenario (more costs).  

- reduce the price a bit ($10k) and still try to sell it now.  I don’t know what else we could do.  It’s priced pretty much at my cost.  

Thanks! 

I grew up in Richmond, so I am coming with the perspective of knowing the area, and knowing people who still live near this house.

A lot has been said, but unless I missed it I didn’t see anything about what the numbers were like at your open houses. The place is clearly nice (good job on your first one), people like to see nice things, especially in areas like that, people will go to see it even if they know they can’t afford it, somehow hoping they will be able to the next day. Real estate agents would call people that fit in a category of viewing but not intentionally about purchasing - lookly Loos. However you want them coming through your door in this case because that drives up demand, when done correctly. If people didn’t flood your initial open houses, your list price is too high, that’s basically the only true deterrent for the people that would live in that community.

It was kind of mentioned, but making sure it’s clear. Your target demographic is a working class family that afford this home and does not care about good school ratings. (My mother pushed, so I was lucky to go to the best public high school in the area, since I said grew up in the city 😉). 

Even without knowing the numbers of your open house traffic, there are other houses listed near your list price. Some new to and some that have been on for awhile, this is likely another sign your list price is too high.

The challenge is you have been on the market for awhile, so even dropping the price now might not guarantee you this close to break even price you are looking for. A positive the interest rates have been trending down which will drive more buyers to the market and hopefully help you out.

So you can pull it and start at a lower list price.

Or keep it on the market, lower the list price and get more aggressive with your marketing. Here’s where the Richmond in me comes out. Have two more open houses, do all the social media things @Caroline Gerardo mentioned, plus - One event on Tuesday, Taco Tuesday to be exact after work hours. Then make sure to have food at the other open house too. Have a DJ and raffle off a pair of Jordan’s, That would = community in that area.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Quote from @Ivan Aldana:

Hi everybody I was wondering if any body is doing Airbnb arbitrage in the Bay Area, California?

I know people doing it.

Quote from @Carlos Ptriawan:

Quote from @Travis Biziorek:

Quote from @Carlos Ptriawan:

Quote from @Travis Biziorek:

Quote from @Carlos Ptriawan:

Quote from @Travis Biziorek:

Can you really get a quad in SF today for $1.2-$1.4MM? 

Seems hard to believe.

yea also most per door is 650-800k for duplex/triplex and that's two years ago

 I understand it's been hit hard and I also saw the $350k studio downtown but that's a far cry from a quad.

He's talking 3 beds in one unit and at least 2/1's in the others. I have a hard time seeing that south of at least $2.5MM, right?

i think he meant duplex. per door price min 600k-700k. But If I were him I would just buy SF in Daly city and convert the garage or buy straightforward the one with ADU, there're few in the market like that. Rent would be the same.

He specifically says, and I quote, "I'm specifically looking at 4-plex properties with at least 3 bedrooms for my family and ideally 2 bedrooms for the other units."

So he says "4-plex", describes his desired unit to inhabit, and then references "other units" (plural).

So yeah, he's talking a quad here.

 I know but I think he misspell, there will be no chance of having quadplex less than 2 mil. It is just impossible.

I have seen some less than 2m in The City (SF), but yes rare, even for the rough areas. 

Quote from @David Liu:

Quote from @Paul Welden:

@Dylan S.

With $70k to invest in real estate, I would recommend to keep $10k-$15k as a reserve, which means you would have available $55k-$60k for down payment & closing costs. 

$60k as a 20% down payment puts your max purchase price at $300k, but factoring in closing costs possibly costing 2% of the purchase price, you would have $54k for down payment, making your max purchase price $270k. 

This may get you a 1-2 bedroom condo in Tempe. As a non-owner occupant borrower for a condo, you may need a 25% down payment. 

If you feel you need to invest now, maybe consider crowd funding real estate opportunities for non-accredited investors. 

Hope this helps! 

 Love this response from Paul. It's pretty conservative which is what you want for your 1st property. 

I agree his analysis. 

To me it looks like house-hacking is the better route for you. I househack in the SF bay area and it's been great. 

House hacking allows you to understand property management & real estate investing finances, kind of like training wheels. 

If you have further questions on house-hacking in california, let me know. 

 Yes, I am feeling this response too. 

At this point, I think it is important to secure your nest egg expenses first. House Hacking allows you to do that and take advantage of the homes future performance at a ridiculously low down payment. 

One way you could look at this and run estimates on what the gains will be in the future, which performs better? Also how much money do you expect to make from the airbnb in Arizona? Is it more income than you pay in monthly rent $1200/mo in the future? If you are not at least more than your rent for the airbnb, that might cause one to think twice.