All Forum Posts by: Verna M.

@Brandon Synder

Unrelated to the topic do you like the classes at UCLA extension? I have taken  the three I need to take the exam elsewhere but I was interested in some of the finance/appraisal classes. 

Have you felt the classes are a good value for the $? 

I took a UCLA extension class related to my previous career, totally unrelated to the business school.  I felt very 'meh' about the it for the price, and the instructor was completely unavailable!

I've not gone to a REIA meet-up yet, but my first is April 1st, (no fooling!) I'm not worried at all, and it never even crossed my mind. even though I did see women only business meet ups in my area.

I don't feel the need for women only groups,  when networking you need to meet as many people as possible.  If anything, I would rather meet other ladies on a forum like this and go to an event together, strength  in numbers you know? 

Back when I had a job, (I was laid off. not FT investor, yet!) I worked in a male dominated industry, I was an engineer and technician of sorts. When I started back in the 90s and I was the only girl in the studio.  Sometimes it sucked, but often it had advantages. 

Today? I would say it's maybe 1/3 women in what I do, which is AWESOME! In fact I was talking to a former female colleague the other day about buying her first home and I wanted to drag her to a meeting with me :) 

 I had a squatters move into a vacant house and start dealing drugs next door to me, I was finding paraphenila on my property.  The police suggested security cameras. I got DVR system with 4 day/night vision cameras.  It cost about $200 from Amazon.   I did not put up a sign or put the cameras in an obvious  area. 

However I did monitor the footage, which can be done on a phone or ipad.  I was able to capture residents of the apartment building across the street dump a couch. I turned the footage over the the building manager,  she took it out of their security deposit. I caught a variety of footage which I turned over to the police. This was a C neighborhood for sure.  

It took two long years but the drug dealers eventually got arrested and removed. 

And the new owners of the house loved the built in cctv! 

Thank you for this thread. Look forward to the rest of the story as it unfolds. 

I considered investing out of state for years, and I have decided to invest IN california for a lot of reasons.  Im looking to buy multi family  by next year. 

This might not apply for everyone but it does to me. I've lived in  California my whole life. I have NO IDEA how snow and winter climate effect maintenance.  I have never seen ice on the ground, let alone know anything about piples freezing.I know how salt water corrodes things but ice is not in my wheelhouse. 

I know about  High Fire Hazard areas.   My home is in one, I do brush clearance on the regular. I understand how California Fair Plan insurance works.  I also know how earthquake insurance works (or doesn't work, in reality) 

I don't know about tornados, hurricanes, monsoons, tsunamis or anything else!

I know the property tax rates. I looked at a property in Oregon that cost half what my home in Los Angeles cost and it was TWICE the amount of property tax I pay here. That was ASTOUNDING to me. 

There is also the local knowledge of neighborhoods and schools.  Since I have done two live-in flips I also have a network for contractors and inspectors.  I don't consider live in flips to be real estate investing. It's called being a tight-wad on your housing expense! ;)

So for me, it makes sense.  I bought my current house at a fire sale price since it had been trashed by renters.  The owner wasn't interested in fixing it up, I bought it with no contingency on the septic tank and got a decent deal. 

I've lived here a year and a half and have completely fixed it up.  I am hoping to do a cash out re-fi and a 401k loan  to buy a multi family property for cash. 

 I am the luckiest woman on the planet because that is how I met my husband!!!

I had an online dating profile and half of my pictures were of me painting my house or shopping for fixtures at Home Depot and in my hobbies I listed my number one hobby is restoring up my 1921 bungalow. 

He was working as a finish carpenter and painter with a background in set dressing (aka staging) and had a good friend who was a great residential broker.

We sold the bungalow and bought another wreck of a house which we are currently living in. We made a huge leap up in quality of neighborhood, which is huge in LA!! This one we hope to rent out when  when its finished and buy another one. 

We Dream of multi unit but were stuck in Los Angeles for now and the live in flip is how we can make it work in LA LA land!!

this happened to me, as well. I closed on October 1st and paid $1050 tax. By January 1st I got the supplemental bill for 1800. (Ouch!) Due in June. 

Previous owner paid 99k. I paid 315k

Welcometo California indeed!!