All Forum Posts by: Sandeep Pai

Hi all,

Anyone here from the bay area and has invested in multi family / SFH in Fresno/Clovis areas? A couple REAs advised me not to buy in Fresno given the lack of quality tenants (issues like rent not paid , having to evict frequently, plus more dire issues like drugs). Wondering if these were specific isolated cases and whether anyone from bay area invested in Fresno and has a good experience. Appreciate y'all's inputs.

@Mike Dymski. Good insights.. I guess if I am not happy with the way a PM is managing those two costs I would just switch the PM. Good pointers to include during PM research though.

@Bill Plymouth Makes sense.. the best mitigation is to have lot of wiggle room by buying at as much discount as possible and using conservative estimates in the calculations.. along with tenant screening which I would look to the PM to cover.

I am still torn between local vs OOS but one thing I am clear on is on not buying cash flow negative hoping for price/rent appreciation in today’s markets. I see some multiplexes in Richmond area that are cash flow positive (unless I am missing something in my calculations). But it seems to me the decision is between adding value to the REs and reaping the full benefit (which I can only comfortably do locally) vs going for wholesalers/turnkey providers OOS and getting only a share of the upside.

@Matthew McNeil thanks for the response.. it's awesome to see you made positive cash flow from SFH A class.. Were most of your properties cash flow positive at purchase or did you buy at negative CF and had to wait few years for rent appreciation? Still learning the different strategies out there and yours seems quite interesting..

@Trenton Miller thanks for the response. Yes I do realize I still need to manage all the non PM parts and those are actually the aspects I enjoy more.. just wondering what renter interaction will I need to do as a landlord, even after shelling out for PM. Any tips on how to thoroughly vet PMs? Right now I am thinking of just picking a company based on web reviews .. is that a good idea?

Let’s say I find a property that’s just barely cash flow positive (I am in the SF Bay Area so its hard to find great +ve CF deals.. not impossible but difficult for new investor). One of my concerns is how to mitigate rent related risks such as:

#1 One of the renters stops paying rent but promises they will pay next month , and then next month..

#2 If the rents in the area go down 3-5 years down the line due to macro factors, suddenly making the investment cash flow negative

#3 If the area downgrades 3-5 yrs down the line, and it becomes harder to find renters at all

How do you mitigate these risks or how have you handled them if you experienced these situations (or others that hit your top line)?

Hey all

Wondering if the passive investment everyone aspires for is really that passive. What are your experiences in terms of really having the passive experience and did having a PM contribute largely to that?

@Kevin Whisler

How/where to check the class of an area?