All Forum Posts by: Quang Tran

I was running numbers using the bigger pockets rental calculator and as i was labeling expenses, and ran the analysis, i noticed that the numbers through my expenses didnt include the property taxes, or the 5/10% of the capex, repairs, and vacancy. If it had included those numbers then i wouldnt cash flow. However without it, i was cashflowing.

Where do those expenses go? They are monthly expenses correct? How come the calculator didnt calculate the all the expenses? If im cashflowing without those numbers, is that still a good investment considering those numbers are "optional"?

I've recently took my first step into real estate investing and got pre approved for a home. Im trying to break through the fear of each step of Real Estate Investing but it seems im getting lost in paralysis analysis. Ive been looking into different ways to invest such as what type of home and the well being of the home. However, how would i know what needs to be rehabbed? Would a home inspector tell me everything from the internals of the home to the cosmetics to the externals? Or would that be a contractor? 

How do i know what would drive the value of the home for some equity or how could i figure out the cost of each repair?

I guess my concern is, i could ask a contractor to see how much something would cost to repair, but what do i need repaired? Both to keep the house in good condition and drive the value of the home?

@Willie Marquez I’d love to join! How can I contact you?

@Paul Choi would love to get to know about your investments. Just moving to Stockton not long ago and I wanna jump in.

I've recently got a free opportunity from a family member to put a huge amount of money down on a property for me as long as my sister lives with me and we can pay for the mortgage together. I've decided to take this opportunity to turn this property into a rental. The market here in Sacramento is about 350-400k for a Duplex from what I've seen and my family member is willing to give me 120k for the down payment. I was planning on finding a duplex for about 350k, keep 15k for cash reserves, 5k for closing, and 100k down so I would only be financing about 250k give or take. When talking to my local mortgage broker at the bank, I was told it is about 450-475 in mortgage per every 100k financed so with 250k I would hopefully be looking at about 1187.5 for my mortgage. If I can find a 5B2B and live in one room with my sister, would it make sense to rent out to tenants by rooms. I have a couple of buddies who would be interested in living there. Average rent per room in Sacramento from what I've been paying is about 600-750. If I were to rent out the other 4 rooms for 500 or 600 each then I would have about 800 in cash flow. However this is excluding expenses, and thats where I am stuck. What is a good way calculate expenses and would something like this make any sense, especially in a market like California? Id appreciate any feedback good or bad! Thanks!

Hello all at BP! My current situation is this: I am a college drop out who recently started working a sales position in the auto industry and want to buy my first house hack duplex in Sacramento by the September of 2018 hits and if I can, even earlier! What I am most worried about is how I can fund this project. I know I can ask family or find private or hard money lenders, but would that require a refinance so I wouldn't have to stick with high interest payments? The problem Im thinking about is that I have very little work experience. Banks often want to see a year long work history. My question: Is it possible to get an FHA loan from the bank with little work background or are there any alternatives?

I agree with you. I am a college student myself and I must say that Ive seen many college students live in filth not because of the property and location, but because the way the students live. I've met people who love to party every day and Ive met people who know how to manage their time and be responsible tenants. The stereotype that burdens college students is that they only want to party and that could definitely lead to damaging your property. But I can see why one would want to rent to college students and I would definitely consider doing the same. Thanks for the insight!

Hello all from BP! Im still on the education phase of Real Estate investing, but I want to better network myself. After asking how I can do that, I figured giving out business cards would be a great way to network. However, I have no job or no title, if you will. I am not an agent, though I plan on getting my license before the end of my winter break which is January. There is a club meeting on the 20th of September and I desperately want to attend it to network myself. The idea of business cards came from the day dreaming of this real estate club meeting. 

So two questions: Should I get business cards? If I should, what should I put on it other than my name, especially when I have no "title"?

@John Ching Thanks for the thought post! Ive been working on gaining knowledge on investing. Im trying to meet with others as well as continue to read and listen to everything I can. I figured bird dogging wouldnt be great if I dont even know how to analyze deals. I still need to learn about how to calculate expenses when analyzing. Thats what really worries me the most about real estate - getting the numbers right.

@Al D. Thanks for commenting and giving me tips, I appreciate it! Ive actually been to those investing "gurus" before with my roommate just to see if I could learn something. My roommate was interested in financial freedom so figured it wouldnt hurt to go with him and see if i can gain something out of it. 

Excited to learn, I walked in hoping for greetings from people and a whole room full of uneducated people like myself. Turns out that the only person who didnt know anything about real estate was a thirteen year old boy. The gentleman who was doing the "teaching" just kept talking about all his amazing deals and how he made 80-100 grand of a fix and flip. I was getting annoyed because none of my questions were being answered to my liking and I was learning absolutely nothing. I do remember learning what ARV was there, however.

At the conclusion of the session, the gentleman proceeded to talk about how he makes 10 grand for every person he invites into the group and that the classes will teach me all I need to know for only 20 grand. I never went back again.

I do want to start somewhere so I began with The Book On Rental Property Investing. (great place to start) But lately I've been having thoughts of getting my Real Estate License. Ive heard that you can get it during winter break in about two weeks. But If i attended the classes, would I learn how to buy and sell houses and find deals, or would I only learn how to sell houses as an agent and how to search through the MLS?