All Forum Posts by: Bill Larsen

Hey Karen!  My family owns a condo in mammoth that I help manage.  

• Is there a site you look at to determine vacancy rates? We use VRBO and looking at the calendars of other rentals gives a good idea of vacancy rates
• What number of weeks do you rent your VR out? it's booked solid in the winter (around thanksgiving-march/april)  and June-August is pretty strong as well.  Sept-Oct are pretty dead
• On the off months, what do you do with your property?  nothing, usually make 1 trip up i spring and fall to get the property ready, bring wood, supplies, do any repairs, etc.
• Do you manage your units yourself or pay manager? we manage ourself
• What has your overall experience been in renting VR? Great, we've been lucky so far, no significant damage from renters. Been using VRBO for about 5-6 years now
• What do you think of your location as it relates to VR? great, 50 yard walk from door to shuttle
• Would you buy another VR? yes, I've been encouraging my parents to look into picking up another in mammoth.  If you have the time to exchange emails with renters, set up deposits, coordinate cleaning, then it's great.  We make more money than if we just did a year lease to a local, but it's also much more time consuming 

I would need the ARV to be minimum $490k to do this deal. It's enticing with seller financing, however just not enough room with an ARV of anything less than $490k. Would they be willing to take any less than $50k?

Cities in LA county that do have rent control that we have come across are Los Angeles, San Pedro, Santa Monica, West Hollwood.  There are a few others but they're cities we don't buy in so I don't remember them.  Per our eviction attorney, if a property is build after 1978, it does not fall under rent control even in these cities.  There are a lot of areas in LA county with strong rental market that's pretty safe that I've seen cash flow including Long Beach

What's goin on friends!  We only did a couple deals in OC this year, 1 anaheim flip, 2 in Dana Point and 1 in San Clemente.  We made money on 3 of 4.  We have 1 condo in Mission Viejo we're currently rehabbing and should be listed before the end of the year.  I also am in negotiations on a duplex in Costa Mesa, but it's kinda falling apart as we speak (or as I type?)

I've been learning a lot about the probate process and hope to do some business in that niche in 2015

Our main two sources for purchasing fix and flips is at trustee sale and off the MLS. Right now we probably get outbid on 98% of MLS fixers and a lot i see do sell close to 85% of ARV. Trustee sales are really tough also. I have seen it soften up a bit in the last month or so. Instead of getting outbid by $30k we only get outbid by $5k-$10k :)

Hey Brad, @Clint Kreider has been doing a lot of work with multi-family properties.  He'd be the guy to give you an accurate picture of what return you could get in OC

Hey @Nicole Diaz I am an agent and flipper in LA county and this year it has been extremely difficult to find deals on the MLS. I put 100% of the buying commission back into the deal, and still rarely find deals with numbers that work. So I would think it would be very difficult to get an offer accepted with $0 commission back (since it'll go to ur agent) and still have enough room to wholesale it. But maybe I'm just being negative cuz i'm in a bit of a dry-spell :)

@Adam Gresch they are the 3rd Wednesday of the month.  Contact @Clint Kreider if you want to be added to the email list, or set up key word alerts

As for flipping I find it a little easier to find deals in LA rather than OC, and I like the cities along the 605 (pico rivera, whittier, bell gardens, Hawaiian Gardens, downey, etc) plus long beach

we would buy this deal.  We look for a minimum 5% return after financing.  That being said, we are usually pretty spot on with our rehab estimates and usually pretty conservative with our ARVs.  It's rare in the LA market today to ethically find flips over 15%.  At least not at auction or mls.  direct mail can get it done 

Here in LA county we usually adjust $5k-$10k for a 3 to a 4 bed.  The big difference is when we try to compare a 2 bed to a 3 bed, that jump couple be up around $30k.  Seems to be a different market