All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

@J. Martin : I think I treat any investment the same way, as in, I have to believe in it. So in order to believe in it, I have to know it quite well. When it comes to real estate, it will be SF and SJ (Willow Glen, where we live). I've been to NY a few times, but don't know it quite well, so it is definitely out of question for me to invest there. Now, I love Boston and would be tempted to invest there. But I don't know that city very well either. That's why I admire many of you guys who invest out of state.

I'm still confirmed, plus one :)

@Johnson H. Yep, read that article. Good one to learn who not to rent to. That woman is a scammer. She's all over the internet (fundme, etc.) and got sued twice for not paying rent in the past. I'd like to think I screen my guests much better than that. A surpise tho since the homeowner is a lawyer.

But yeah, one more reason why I despise the SF Rental Laws :)

How does it make sense that tenants have more rights than the homeowner. If you rent a car for a month and refuse to return it when it's due, you'll be arrested for an auto theft.

@brandon laughridge: I rent thru Airbnb in SF Bay Area and am doing quite well. I am totally surprised that some people have not heard of Airbnb yet. It is a very successful start up even in China and Europe. We get guests from all over the world and I use them when I travel as well.

I think it is totally worth it to buy properties to use solely for this kind of rental, as long as you've done your research. We just started renting out on 30 days minimum only, but in the past we have great success doing short term.

And yes, that could involve lots of work, but if you are into this kind of thing, it's very rewarding as well. Due to our travel schedule, we just hired a property manager to take care of the rentals, but if I were to stay put, I really wouldn't find continue handling this myself.

==Like most folks here I'm looking to reduce costs. I'm paying $500-750 per unit per yr on units where the replacement costs for the structure are +/-200k/unit.==

Oh wow, that actually sounds very low to me. We just renewed our 3-condo building insurance on Friday, at $4,329!

And our other insurance (3 unit as well) is at $3,938.26. Not sure why it's lower but probably because of the value of the building?

But this is the kind of thing that I sometimes dont' even pay attention too because of my full time job (and running rentals). The same thing with cellphone bills. I'm sure we could lower rates if we have time to check rates etc.

@Amit M. (ha - tagged you!!) yes, I'd love to get your Farmers insurance guy. I have great relationship with Statefarms but can't remember what they quoted - definitely much more than $500-750/unit?

Congratulations, @Brie Schmidt !

Very excited for you. I'm following your footstop closely - two weeks from now :)

@Johnson H. Thanks for the link. That sounds pretty crazy. Hope they either fix it or at least get to the bottom of it.

@J. Martin I think they call it now "The Point".

And yes, lots of things going on there now, left right and center. I'm very optimistic with this newly revived 'hood.

@Johnson H. Actually I had never been to BV (aside from that Speakeasy brewery), until just a month ago when we started looking, and we were SCARED to get out of the car. Just didn't know what to expect, you know. And turned out, it's a nice neighborhood, peeps looked 'normal' to me. But yes, crime rate probably is higher, and there is shooting here and there, but it's nothing different than Potrero Hill where we have our investment as well. And of course in the Mission where I lived for quite a few years, there were some shootings happened just 2 blocks from my condo. And one time I was looking out my window and saw a transaction going on right at the stop light. Just remembered this again when we were watching breaking bad last night.

But I hear ya about not wanting to live there. I wouldn't at this point, because we can't walk to nearby restaurants since there aren't that many yet (my husband said, not really walk, more like RUN). But, I'm very optimistic that there will be a few within the next 2 years. Because once it starts going, it will go fast. And again, SF is small, only 7X7. You can't really go wrong :)

"not as bad as Bay View"

@Amit (I still can't tag him) - I'll push @Johnson H. to his side and you can smack him, ok? :-b

I feel the need to defend my investment here: BV is changing. It's very dynamic, diversed, and have 100X better weather than the Sunset or Richmond. It is the DP in the making. Or even the Marina, although personally I like DP better.

Just 5 years ago when I was working in Fi-Di, I was a bit scared going to DP, in fact didn't know the name DP then. It's a trendy place now. The new brewery attracted all kinds of crowd from SF and the surround areas.

@Manch Hon : Our real estate agent actually suggested to go to Ingleside, Excelsior and those other areas you mentioned. Somehow personally I have more faith in BV's future. I could be wrong mind you, but I just started liking BV lots.