All Forum Posts by: Steve Graves

@Steven Jackson  - You are asking for cash for keys advice. I've had to do it 3 times. The first two, I handled myself and told them they have two weeks to move out and once they are out, I wrote them each a check. Now the 3rd time was a similar situation to yours. I got a great deal on a run down property in a great area. The renter in the house was the sellers daughter. She and her boyfriend quit paying rent a year prior. The deal was so good, I did what I had to do to make it happen. Well, the renters had hired a non profit attorney, BASTA. In the beginning it was very worrisome, because the attorneys knew exactly what they needed to say to get what they wanted. I made some repairs on the place during escrow to keep the county happy. Yes, the tenants called the county in because they said some damage, that they actually did, was not getting repaird. So, all good, county is out of the picture now. During this time the sellers were negotiating the terms of the eviction. The tenants were offered 3k but turned it down, said they wanted 4k. I wanted them out ASAP, so we agreed to pay the cash for keys at 2k each, giving them what they asked for. In the end, it was actually a good thing they used BASTA, because they were the middleman, we gave them money to them and once the tenants were out, BASTA gave them their cut. Sorry for the long story but my point of this is, find a middleman to handle the money. Maybe an escrow company can do it or a real estate attorney. If I were you I would not pay them directly. In the end all turned out great, I rehabbed the property and am now getting great rent for it. All of this happened from November of last year until the middle of February this year. I thank the god up above everyday that we were able to get them out of the property before the California Covid lockdown started. I know there is no way they would have moved out once the Governor gave the order of no evictions.

Good luck,  hope it all goes well.

I'm in the middle of finishing up a property with an attached ADU. Once you have the county or city involved, your cost is going to go up. You'll need to get full engineered plans and a Title 24 plan. I'm doing mine for around 30k. It has been a huge pain, but in the end it will be worth it. Most of the county workers are not fond of ADU's because they don't want them in their own neighborhoods. How do I know this, because the LA county desk workers and an inspector, told me this directly. Be prepared with all of your plans and have them make a list of everything you will need. Since you're going under 500 sq ft., you'll save a lot on school fees, sewer fees, etc.

Find out if they have hired any non profit attorney, such as BASTA. If they have, then it's an easy no and pass. 

I haven't read through all the messages yet but just in case this wasn't posted. Someone earlier had mentioned this attorneys name. He caused California Governor Newsom to rescind his No Evictions order:   

https://californiaglobe.com/section-2/lawyers-swift-action-forces-gov-newsoms-no-eviction-order-to-be-rescinded/

https://www.rpmcentralvalley.com/will-california-eviction-moratorium-be-extended-past-july-29th-ventura-lawyer-doug-michie-says-no/

https://www.goldenwestmanagement.com/ventura-lawyer-stops-governor-newsom-eviction-moratorium-from-extending-past-7-28/

https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/06/29/coronavirus-landlords-begin-testing-state-eviction-ban/

All of my investments are in So Cal and I've been riding this rent control roller coaster for a couple of years now. I'm in it for the long haul and am learning how to adapt to what our government has been forcing on us. So far, I'm able to make a good profit and I can rent to who I want. That being said, I do my due diligence and either by luck or learning, my properties have great tenants. I'm definitely open to what we can do as investors in this state but until then I have no choice but to adapt. I won't be selling my properties and if so many other investors have said they are selling, well, obviously it's going to be a supply and demand issue. Once Costa Hawkins is dead, I will be raising the allowable amount for rent every year on all of my tenants. 

Don't get too wrapped up in strategy. Once you're actually investing, your strategy will evolve to what you're good at and you will learn what you're not good at. Simple as that. Analysis paralysis can be poison but you do need to do your research. If you're getting good advice from seasoned investors, listen to them. Too many think they know it all because they read a book.I'll tell you right now, this is a learning in the school of hard knocks investment path. My first investment was a complete nightmare but it taught me many lessons and I use what I've learned from that property on every one of my new purchases. Good luck and welcome!

@J Edward  Hey J, not at all, you can sell to whoever you want and buy wherever you want to buy. I've done one 1031 and it was sold to a private party. I had a foreclosure lined up to buy and the 1031 company I used did everything else. They're a lot easier to do than they sound. The part that is stressful is making sure you have 3 properties lined up, just in case one goes south on you. In my case I just had the one lined up because everything was a go situation from the start. I know there is a few members on here who do 1031's that would be able to give you some great advice.

If you're open to doing a 1031 Exchange, that might be a good option for you. Then you can sell now and not get hit with capital gains. 

If you're going to be selling, I wouldn't worry about putting any money into the automated gate. I had the same issue with a property I sold last year and found out that a new automated gate really didn't add much value, if any at all to the price.

I wouldn't trade my knowledge of self managing in the beginning for anything. It taught me to understand that my renters are my customers and I treat them as such. I used to do everything myself because I wanted to learn as much as I could. For lack of a better term, I  have trained my tenants well. They know to call me asap if there's a water leak or pest issue, etc. My response time is fast because I can call one of the people on my team; plumber, handyman, electrician, contractor, people who I know and trust. Self managing has built up my instincts to see red flags for bad tenants and bad possible tenants. Seriously, if you take the time to find good people you know and trust, self managing is easy. 

Now, after saying all of this, I self manage 9 doors. If I managed 90 doors, I would probably be hiring a PM. This is a very open ended subject and context is everything.

I have no intention of selling any of my properties. Cash flow is good and none of my renters have lost their jobs. To the investors on this thread, that are selling an SFR property, how do you plan on handling the removal of your tenants? In California the governor has a moratorium on evictions. Seems to me that trying to remove a tenant after the sale would a be a big pain.