All Forum Posts by: Taylor Cu

Originally posted by @Ali Boone:

Well for sure, everyone is going to have their own opinions. Local investors stick hard to saying anyone who doesn't invest locally isn't being smart. To each their own... I live in LA and have always invested out-of-state and I've never been eaten alive. There are ways to make any strategy work and lessen risk.

As far as appreciation vs cash flow, check this out-

https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2014/06/2...

Not sure if it helps a ton, but might spark some thoughts for you.

A couple considerations when thinking about appreciation:

1. Where are we in the current real estate market? (hint: far from the bottom, but hard to say on how close to the top)
2. How much appreciation would you actually need to be profitable? If you are using a mortgage, that will be an especially good question because how much will you be paying in just mortgage interest alone? You'd need enough appreciation to make up for that, property expenses, property taxes, etc (less what you make in cash flow from other units).

Let me know if you want to chat anymore! Message anytime.

Hi Ali! Thank you for the response! I studied mechanical engineering. Its cool seeing a fellow engineering in the real estate game. I loved the article. Definitely sparked a some questions/thoughts. I'm definitely interested in the third option. I don't think I have a solid understanding of how to speculate appreciation in the real estate market. How do you know which markets look promising vs. others? Where do you look? How was it like buying your first property out of state? 

Hello Bigger Pockets!

I am a newbie currently living in the Bay Area of California. My interest lies in rental properties. I am working on becoming better at analyzing deals. I’m working to get all of my finances together by the end of next year and hopefully house hack my first investment. As I am looking at more deals, I realize it is a little difficult to find positive cash flowing properties in my area. I thought about trying to invest out of state and was advised by a local investor that the sharks will eat me alive since this would be my first. (Still didn’t fully understand what he meant by that haha). I also read on another discussion that appreciation will continue to increase in the Bay Area and that cash flow doesn’t matter as much. I understand that positive cash flow and appreciation play huge wealth generating factors but I feel like it’ll be hard to find a property with both. What matters more? Getting a property in the Bay Area and rely on appreciation or going out of state to try and find both factors?  

Thank you for the useful information! ah interesting. I did not know that I could ask the buyer to pay up to 6%.  

First post! Hello fellow BP members, my name is Taylor Cu. I'm 22 years old. I graduated from Loyola Marymount University with a mechanical engineering degree in May 2017. I currently work full time as a superintendent for a general contracting company. We specialize in retail and restaurants. I was introduced to real estate investing a couple months ago as I was searching for different options of passive income. Since then, I've read/listened to numerous books from BiggerPockets and listen to their podcasts all the time. My goal with real estate is to be able to take care of my family in the future and be financially free. I am interested in being a buy and hold investor. Specifically in multi family properties. For my first property, My goal is to house hack a 2-4 unit property around Culver City, CA area (I'm going to be working in this area) using an FHA loan but with only $5000 saved up and the high market price, this poses a challenge. So now, I'm taking the time to network and educate myself. I went to my first real estate meetup. Turned out to be a meeting to try and upsale me on buying RENATUS. The day after, I decided to upgrade my BiggerPockets membership to pro! So now, I'm focusing on becoming better at analyzing deals and looking for positive cash flow properties, building my capital, and networking. I'm looking forward to get more involved within this community. I'm going to my first meetup tomorrow! I'm excited to learn more! I do have some questions though. 1. From my understanding, I would need to have at least two years of income to qualify for an FHA loan. If I have a co-signer that qualifies for the loan, does that mean the total mortgage amount would be split 50-50? Would I need to pay for half and the co-signer covers the other half? Is it possible for two qualified people to combine an FHA loan to pay for a more expensive property? Or is there only one FHA loan allowed per property? 2. Has anyone partnered up for their first investment property? If so, how did it go? I could imagine it's a bit risky to partner with someone that doesn't necessarily have solid experience. 3. Any other useful tips/areas to focus on as a new investor with little capital? Thank you! I'm excited to be a part of the Bigger Pockets family!