All Forum Posts by: Sharon Cheng

@Jacqueline Chang welcome to the party and thanks for keep this post alive!  Work had gotten busy so I haven't been able to check in to BP as often as I like.  Have you found anything yet?  I had looked at a couple of places with the limited time I have but no fruit yet. The market is so hot now, anything good is either too expensive or gone in a couple of days haha. 

I do have a general questions for the experts here on BP --  would you buy a house that has current renters living in it?  On the one hand, I think it's good that you don't have to worry about renting the rooms out; on the other hand, not sure whether I'd inherit any problem by doing that.  I saw a few listing like these and some of them doesn't even allow home tours, not sure if that's a red flag. 

@Matt May, I saw this listing yesterday, but only glanced through it without giving it too much thought. I'll check it out. A couple of questions:

Is this technically a duplex, or a house with ADU?

Do you feel the house/rooms are in good shape for rental? or would they need some fix-up in order to generate demand?  If the latter, what would you estimate the cost be around? 

Thank you so much @Jerome Caldito, for the very detailed and very practical advice!  Like you said,  large lots or existing ADUs in my price range are hard to come by.  Although I will keep looking, it's likely I' might end up having to reply on house hack, either as a full or partial solution.  

I also appreciate your tip on the private bathroom and buffer between bedrooms, I thought it was very thoughtful and exactly what I'd want to do. Changing from having my place to sharing a space with someone else, I will definitely need to easy into things a little bit.  

For some reason, I've never used or even considered facebook groups for rentals, I'll definitely check it out.   

Btw, I'm so glad I stumbled upon the BP forum. This is my first post, but I've already gotten so much great info and advice. Thanks all.

@nabil Suleiman, that's great to hear! It's been a while since I last shared a place with someone (ever since after graduation). I have to admit I was thinking about the subleasing market based on my current mindset :)  

Hi All, thank you so much for your advices so far!  

I noticed is all of you suggested the ADU route, and no one commented on the house hack option (#2 and #3). Is it because as an investment option, ADU makes more $$ sense since it provides a better ROI (and potentially faster turnaround)?

My intention with this first property purchase is to buy and hold. And since house hacking seems to be the simpler and likely cheaper option, I feel like I owe it to myself to give it some serious thought before deciding on the other way. What do you think? Is it easy to do house hack in Pasadena? would it make sense to do it with condos rather than SFRs since that will allow me to buy more rooms to rent out with the same amount of $$? Or SFR is still better even with fewer rooms because of higher appreciation and no HOAs?

Thank you @Rick Albert, $100k is all the cash I have now. Sounds like my best chance would be to find an existing structure and fix it up :)

@Nabil Suleiman, thanks for the words of encouragement!  All the things about renovs and contractors sounds intimidating for someone who knows little about them, but I'm definitely interested in learning. 

Yeah, the inventory in Pasadena is a definitely a big challenge for sure. I've thought about areas in NELA including El Sereno, but kind of don't want to deal with the city of LA due to rent control or other similar reasons :P   Within my current budget, I've seen some SFRs in Pasadena with 2B1B or 2/2.  I know it's easier to rent out a whole SF house or detached ADUs, but what about house hack in these SFRs?  Is it hard to rent out individual bedrooms within a SFR?  

I will keep an eye for detached garages, but if I can''t find them, what would be a minimum lot size I should look for for building AUDs so the lot won't seem crowded?  

@Jerome Caldito, thank you, I will check out the link for the local ADU rules. I'm also not aware that there are unincorporated areas in Pasadena, and the rules are different for those areas. That's super helpful info to know!  Looks like I've got a lot of research to do.   As to the ADU renter requirement, if I live in the ADU myself and rent out the main house , that should solve the problem right?  That said, might be a problem to consider when I move out of the place. 

Hi Everyone! I’m new to RE investing and hope to get some advice from local experts here on the best way to do house hacking or rental investment in Pasadena.

Why Pasadena, you ask?

1. My current job is in DTLA, so the commute will be good (I’m WFH now, but I imagine that will end someday)
2. It’s a great area to live in – charming, houses/neighborhoods with character, good food and many things to do. When I first came to LA for school, I had lived nearby and fell in love with the area ever since.
3. It’s efficient to have a focused area when I search. Hopefully, this also makes it easier for you to narrow down your answers to my upcoming questions.

In terms of price range - I have $100k cash, and can do <~$3,500/month for monthly payments. My thought is to get a traditional loan of up to $750K, making the totally home price $850K and monthly payment around the $35K range. This is how much I can afford though, I won’t mind a cheaper option if there is one. I’m also open to other suggestions including up my budget. (Don’t want to be too risky though in case I can’t fill vacancies due to Covid or other unexpected situations)

My questions:

1. What would you do if you were in my shoes? I have a full time job and no experience in renovation (though willing to learn and start from small things). From what I read on the forum, house hacking or buying an SFR and add/convert an ADU seems to be the way to go, but I have questions for both routes:
2. If I go the House Hack route, what's the best property type to buy in Pasadena? There are not many SFRs within $850k in this area, and even fewer multi-families. Should I stick to SFR in my current budget, consider Townhouses/condos, or raise my SFR budget?
3. How’s the demand in Pasadena in house-hacked units (i.e. bedroom for rent)? Are there enough demand for it? Any specific area I should look for/avoid? Makes a difference if it’s in a house or condo?
4. If I go the SFR w/ ADU route, what specific things should I look for in a SFR for ADU potential? I assume the lot size have to large enough, is there a square footage minimum? Or should I look for an existing structure/ADU that can be converted or fixed up?

A final note, I understand Pasadena doesn’t have the highest investment potential when it comes to cash flow (or appreciation), but I really want to live there and am willing make some sacrifices in returns, as long as the overall numbers isn’t far off. E.g. if necessary, starting with a small negative cash flow to build equity. After all, it still beats throwing $1550 rent money away every month.

Ok, that's it and thanks for your patience in reading thus far. I know this is a loaded post, but hopefully more info is better than less info :)  All things considered, what would you recommend?