All Forum Posts by: Rafael Ro

Thank you all so much for the feedback. I'm seeing a pattern here lol

I understand that CA has many issues, and it's only getting worse... And I'm not just talking about the crazy high prices. 

However, I'm currently based in CA, and we pay a pretty penny of our post-tax money to vacation in Airbnbs over the summer so that's one (personal) benefit to purchasing one, and I would like to be able to visit the property relatively easily (ie. by driving there). Specifically for this property. 

With that in mind, and knowing that CA is CA.. I'm wondering if there are any beach towns that may have a better return than others, and that may be more open to STRs. For example, not a beach town obviously, but there is Indio, where STRs are very common and if you look hard you may be able to find a deal that could make sense in this market.. I'm trying to find something similar, but in a beach town. 

That said, I would also consider beach towns that are out of state but with easy access (ie. a short flight.. say 1-2hrs). But would still prefer driving distance, so CA and South of Pismo beach ideally. 

Maybe what I'm looking for doesn't exist.. but just consider that even if you tell me a couple of places that are at least open to STRs you'd be helping. 

Any ideas?

Hello all,

Would love to hear your thoughts on whether there is a beach town that allows short term rentals in California, and where the following plan may make sense. 

We're looking to buy a property (most likely a condo due to budget) and would like to AirBnb it for part of the year and use it for part of the year. Because of that, our budget a little more flexible -- it doesn't necessarily have to cash flow right out the door (which I know is almost completely unlikely in the current market for this type of area). 

I'm doing some research now to identify potential areas to keep an eye on and possibly connect with an investor-oriented local agent in each of the areas we're considering.  

Thank you all in advance for your input!

Hello all,

I'm new as a forum member but I've been reading, listening, and watching all sorts of stuff on BiggerPockets for a while, and love the community here. I plan to be a more active member as I embark in my real estate journey. 

I have been a renter for 8 years and for the past year I've been looking to buy a home for my family. The market has been hot.. then COVID hit and it sort of paused.. and now we're dealing with very little supply and bidding wars. I strongly believe that we will see a crash, but it could take 6 months, or a year, or 2 years, or however long.. the bottom line is that I don't see the prices going up any higher than where they are now, and yet I'm still very actively and aggressively looking to buy -- the reason is that my rent is expensive and so if I have to wait a year then I would have to hope for a drop to the tune of 7%+ in order to break even.. it's not worth the risk of potentially being priced out. 

After lots of hard work over the last year, and some luck, I now have a very healthy budget for a home. I'm looking for a home in northwest Woodland Hills (ie. Valley Circle exit, for those that may know where that is) or in Calabasas, and can put together a 1mil budget. To get that high, I will have to put down 235k in order to bring the loan amount to conforming limits (765k). 

(For the lenders out there - the reason I have to bring the loan amount down to conforming limits is that I have an excellent credit score, I own a business and have had great revenue for a few years, but not in 2018. So I have to qualify with just 1 year of tax returns - 2019..)

Specifically I'm looking for a house that may need some work (and so I could buy it with a smaller downpayment and use the cash to fix it up), or a house that is dated but well maintained, so we can move in and update things as/when needed over time. My budget is right where it needs to be for that type of house, but the supply is just not there. One house like this popped up 3 weeks ago, and we got it in Escrow, but then the seller got cold feet and backed out (they had a contingency to find a new home).

I have been looking for a while now... and I do not want to compromise on anything I'm looking for, because when I look at the comps I'm seeing that my budget is enough and because I may need to live in this house for many years (especially since the market may take a down turn).. but at the same time, I'm hoping to find a way to get access to more properties and not have to wait 2-3 weeks for a potential candidate to appear on the MLS.

Any ideas? I can't help but see remodeled flips at 1.2mil that were bought for 850k a few months ago (without actually hitting the market).. or fixers at 800k that were "sold before processing" and stuff like that.. these houses could have worked for us, but we just never had a chance. Can you think of a way to get access to stuff like that?

One more point here is that we need all the cash we can get (getting a loan from a friend for the downpayment too), so I am using my aunt as an agent to facilitate the deal so that she can kick us back her commission.. It would give us an advantage to use a local agent that knows what's happening, but at this stage I feel like we're very close to what we want and I could really use that extra money in my pocket after this deal goes through.. but maybe I'm wrong. 

Let me know what you think. I would really appreciate your thoughts on the above.