All Forum Posts by: Sahil Tadwalkar

I'm really sorry about your experience. I've considered platforms like this in the past and your post is a good reminder that they're not always as advertised. I can quickly see how bad contracts can misalign incentives and how real estate is never completely passive. 

Hopefully you can continue to invest in real estate on your own or with trusted partners! 

I find direct communication with the tenants is always the best way to get issues resolved. In this case, your PM should find out what it is that's causing them to delay maintenance on the house. Maybe someone passed, they were recently injured, etc. There could be a valid reason and they may just need a strong warning/demand. More so than what your old PM gave them.

It seems like in your case, they've been stalling for quite a while. If the home is not insurable and your policy is running out, I'd serve that 90 day notice without case immediately. Section tenants need 90 days as opposed to a 60 day notice. You'll need to notify both the tenant and the Housing Authority in writing. If TPA applies you may need to assist with relocation and you will need just cause, I'd confirm with the Housing Authority for your specific property. You're correct about their voucher being at risk if they fail to find housing within a specified amount of time. The HA will usually give them a moving voucher once you serve the 90 day notice. 

You can always refer to AB 1482 since you're in San Jose. 

I'm relatively new to flipping, but I understand that the majority of profits come from purchasing the property at the right price. I'm currently exploring SFH in the Bay Area, specifically San Jose. I think an 85% ARV seems reasonable and offers a small margin for profit, though I know some other flippers target 70-75% ARV.

With that in mind, what would you consider a typical purchase price as a percentage of ARV for a good flip opportunity in the markets you're familiar with? I'm asking this while excluding local market dynamics and lender requirements as much as possible.

Thanks!

I'm in a situation where some utilities are in my name and I pay them on the tenants behalf. I use a software called Innago (I have no affiliation with this product), where I can set amount I need to collect from the tenant every month. It gives me the flexibility I need to get reimbursed for the proper amounts. It would be best to let utility companies know that there's a tenant in any case, and they will know whether utilities need to stay in your name or if the tenant can just create an account and pay them directly. 

I can attest to Arlen's comment about J and Tyler's meetups. Both are excellent! 

Taking inspiration from those, I decided to launch my own in the South Bay. I'm looking to do monthly events, some may creep up into Easy Bay territory! 

https://www.meetup.com/southbay-re-investors/?eventOrigin=ev...

Hey Lima, great to meet you! I'm based in the Bay Area and currently have a tenant in the HUD-VASH program. It's easy to focus solely on the numbers in real estate, but as landlords, we're also providing a fundamental necessity—safe and stable housing. Helping those who've served has been a rewarding experience.

My tenant initially struggled to find a place due to stigma around the program, but he's proven to be more responsible than most. I'd love to connect! I'm interested in doing more HUD-VASH deals, and Sacramento is a market I've been exploring.

I've evaluated properties with similar returns to yours. If you could get $1750 comfortably for the downstairs unit then you're looking at a solid levered CoC of14%. This is all assuming the rest of your underwriting is solid, taking into account insurance, capex, and misc. costs. If you're going for the appreciation play, then you might be fine with less cash flow.

What decision did you end up making?

Hi All, 

I'm a new investor with one property in the Bay Area that my wife and I purchased last year. It's a townhome that we bought to move into, but due to some last minute changes we decided to live with family and rent it out (our mortgage company is aware of this). We have an owner occupied rate of 6.25% on a 5/5 arm. Right now, the property is cashflow neutral, but only because we have significant equity tied up in it (~35% down). I'm trying to figure out ways to pull some cash out, so I can make more long term investments and keep some liquidity on hand, while still keeping my expenses low. 

We didn't do any major renovations since buying and renting it out, but Redfin tells us that we gained ~$60k of equity. I'd guess the real number is closer to $30k, since we bought it slightly under market and did some minor work like changed all the appliances. 

Has anyone been in a similar situation or used some creative ways to unlock the trapped equity? I'm thinking that I need to ride out some more equity growth to take advantage of a refi but any thoughts or ideas are much appreciated! I've also considered a HELOC but have shied away from it since I want to make longer term investments.

Thank you!