All Forum Posts by: Stan K.

@J. Martin I'm always up for networking and real-estate banter :) 

@Troy Fisher and I was all, OMG, nobody knows! Did I just spill J's secret?

@John Pierce You should be asking not only how much do they cost, but also how much they can save you. In my experience, the amount of money, problems, and headache they can save far outweighs their cost.

@Nikhil Sharma you should google REIT index funds - vanguard, fidelity, iShares - they are all good places to start.

Also, if you are looking for a stock investment advise, you'll be better off going to a certified financial planner rather than asking on a forum.

Welcome to BP, @Billy Kane! 

As for getting 10% positive cash flow in the bay area in the current market, you'll be lucky to get a cash neutral deal.

@Alex Chin The process and requirements differ by county. Your friend should talk to a real estate attorney familiar with San Mateo county. I was looking at two SFRs that were used as duplexes in SF over the summer and one of them was a relatively easy process to convert while the other was a nightmare. I didn't purchase either one of them with legal problems being the main issue for the second one. The main point here is that even within the same county you can have different situations and without knowing all the details, it would be hard to give you any meaningful advise.

Edit: The first consultations are usually free and your friend might get all that's needed from a quick phone call.

Hey @Jon Q., just now noticed your post. How long have they been in business? I checked Yelp and they had no reviews at all.

Hey @Christian Ritter, welcome to BP and congrats on taking the plunge! Sounds like it's working well for you

@Kevin Jorgensen Here's a recent blog post from @Brandon Turner on the subject. He must've known you were going to ask this question :)

@Account Closed It sounds to me like you are not ready to purchase this property. You don't know what you want and you don't know if this is a good deal. My advise for you would be to go back to basics:

1. Figure out what you want 

• What kind of property do you want? 1-bd/2-bd? Do you want a condo?
• Do you want to buy it for cash flow or for appreciation?
• Do you plan to live in it or not?
• How long do you plan to hold it?

2. Once you know what your goals are, study the market. Get to the point where you can look at a property and tell whether it's overpriced, underpriced or priced at market. You should also know how much you can get in rent for it.

3. Once you've done 1 and 2, you'll be ready to buy.

@Brandon Trafford there is no such thing as a standard cap rate. You can have two identical buildings next to each other with different cap rates. It depends on a number of things, for example, how well you manage the building and how good your tenants are,