All Forum Posts by: Simon C.

Love this advice.

@Dave Foster I like the idea of a floating closing to extend the search time. I'm already hustling trying to talk to as many realtors as possible to put leads out there and keeping my eyes and ears out for potential listings. Only thing is, it would be nice to get the proceeds to finally get my own first home.

@Alpesh Parmar I didn't have the foresight to (or balls) to buy in areas such as Stockton and Tracy back then. They just didn't seem like appealing markets to me at the time. 

With my calculations I was cash flowing much better in 2013 since my rental income was between $2400-2500 back then and my HOA was lower at $261/mo (has gone up to over the past 5 years to $461 which happened this year - although includes cable/internet now)

Just wanted to update this thread and let everyone know that I've decided to sell. I'll be attempting a 1031 exchange (not sure if I want to do a DST if it doesn't work out) but am not confident that I'll be able to identify the right property in time but I'll give it a shot. If not, the tax man is going to be getting some money from me come next April...

Question, is it possible to 1031 into a property that I can occupy but still rent out (for example, if I bought a SFR but rented out a room, or a duplex and rented out one of the units while living in the other)? I assume not.

@Lane Kawaoka Certainly would be nice to cash out and not have focus on maintaining the property anymore. Just not sure if I want to swallow that big tax bill. 

@Kevin Grinstead Thanks for the reply. My cash flow is about break even right now if I factor in 5% maint, 5% capex, 5% vacancy. When I run the numbers a little closely since the 5% maint/vacancy is a touch high, I'm probably actually cash flowing only $100/mo. I was cash flowing closer to $250/mo in the beginning but HOA fee's have continued to rise over the course of my ownership. I even have a special assessment that needs to be paid out soon which further add to op ex.

I do think I need to move forward into another property that will give me better returns since as you mentioned, the Denver market is going to cool off soon and could be invested in better areas. 

@minh le I actually have been looking int the Newark/Union City/Fremont area so nice find there. Looks like you found yourself a pretty good deal! I definitely have a lot to learn and glad I stumbled upon this community. I definitely agree with you that I didn't apply the right technique back in 2013. I didn't have the right mindset in regards to the properties and areas I was looking for but you live and you learn right? 

@Patrick O. @Account Closed

I think both of you (along with others in this post) highlighted that I don't necessarily know what direction I want to go with this. Do I want to build a real portfolio or do I just want to pick up properties here and there? Do I want really want to put in the work?

There are questions that I'll have introspectively ask myself and figure out soon. What I do know is that I have a lot more to learn and have picked up several books and will need to do much more research to help me find the answers. 

I think when I purchased this property 5 years ago I had it in my mind that I would just hold on forever, take deductions until they expired, and when the mortgage was paid off I would be cash flowing nicely (and hopefully appreciation would be a nice bonus as well). I never really thought about next steps and getting better cash flow so that's what I need to decide for myself now. It's tempting to just sell outright and take money off the table without having to worry about finding the right deal and then continuing to manage another/more properties. However, knowing myself, this is likely not the route I'll take since I'm the type to keep rolling investments into something else and the tax burden would be pretty big at this point.

To be honest, my main focus in the last couple of years and even now has really been to get into my own primary residence here in the Bay Area. I didn't want to add another investment property until I found myself a home but the way things are trending I'll likely not be doing that in the near future since I don't want to overpay or be stretched so thin on an expensive mortgage that I'll be miserable. 

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I'll look into some of these companies and appreciate the response. Not 100% sure I want to step away from self managing at this point due to the added expense of a PM company but want something in my back pocket just in case.

@Alan Grobmeier @Robert Herrera

Selling seems like it might be the best option now. Not sure if should try to 1031 one into something else or possibly even 1031 into something like the 1031 product that RealtyShares or one of those similar REIT's offer. It just seems like given the time restraints on a 1031 it'll be hard to find a property in that short amount of time or even at all.

I could always do a straight sale but from my general calculations I'd be liable for about $50-70K in taxes (fed cap gains, depreciation recapture, and state tax). Ouch. 

I've been managing my own rental from out of state (with pretty good results for the most part) but am interested in possibly bringing on a solid management company. I might be interested in just tenant placement but possibly also in the full service management as well. Any recommendations out there? I was looking a company called KeyRenter (https://keyrenter.com/) and wanted to see if any has had experience with them as well.

Thanks in advance.

Simon