[zk]

Thank you very much for the input, Jazzman.
My dad was in a Dixieland jazz band, and your handle always reminds me of another jazz band, “Night Blooming Jazzmen.” Great name for a band. Anyway:
[quote=Jazzman]Phoenix and Las Vegas have seen much bigger corrections. [/quote]
Phoenix and Vegas really did get slammed. Any other markets you think are good for owning rentals?
[quote=Jazzman]One of my properties is in Las Vegas, and was bought through a Redfin Partner (Remax) who had a property management company in their office, so the transition was smooth. Bear in mind vacancy rates, which will be higher, but if you find a good property it will rent. [/quote]
Any ideas on what makes a “good” property in Vegas, one that will rent?
[quote=Jazzman]The returns are acceptable. The only place I found comparable returns was Rialto. I couldn’t find anything in Riverside. Remember, it’s not just returns, but finding an established, reputable property manager. Let that lead your search. Geographical distance is not a problem with modern communications. [/quote]
Are you still using the property manager in Vegas that you mention above? What’s your opinion of them? Do you know any good managers in any markets?

[quote=Jazzman]You need to go out there and vet the agents, and see properties. Go armed with questions which will give you peace of mind on trust issues. I can give you some pointers. Most common surprise is costs are usually higher than you wish for. Anticipate 50% of income paid away on costs. I know of no property managers in SB (anyone…sdr, SDR?), but Realtors may recommend someone. Many advertise on craigslist. [/quote]
Other that a trusted opinion from someone I know, how can I tell if a property manager will be looking out for my best interests?
[quote=Jazzman]The first step is to educate yourself thoroughly on the housing market, and being a landlord. Books, blogs, forums and talking to other investors. Biggerpockets is a starting place. Give yourself six months to do this. Good luck![/quote]
Thanks for the tip on biggerpockets. A lot of good stuff there. I’ve been talking to other investors, listening to piggs, checking out some forums and blogs. Any books or other websites you could recommend would be greatly appreciated, as would anything else you can think of.
I am a beginner at this, and I don’t want to start buying properties uneducated. But I would like to accelerate the non-experience portion of my education as much as possible and then go out there and start actually buying. Thanks again for the tips.

[zk]

Because I can’t think of a better long-term investment. Basically what flu said.

It’s inflation-protected (rents will go up with inflation), cash-flowing, relatively safe, and, as gravy, has the potential for appreciation, especially since we’re buying near (we hope, we think) the low point in this real estate cycle.

If anybody knows of a better long-term investment, I’m all ears. Really.

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[quote=paramount][quote=as]

I also heard that PM can hire a handman who charges you more, then split the commission between each other.

[/quote]

If you look at the thread I started: FIRING Your PM, one of the points I listed is don’t hire a PM that has in-house maintenance for exactly the reason you listed.

PM companies aren’t just interested in the management fee, your property will be seen as an opportunity for additional revenue.

That’s also another source of stress.[/quote]

Thanks for all the input, paramount. I really appreciate hearing about all aspects of the operation.

And thanks exsdgal and as.

[zk]

Thanks for the input, Jazzman. I really appreciate it.

[quote=Jazzman]If you are going to use a property manager, then why limit your search to local where homes are generally more expensive in relation to rents. I currently have six rentals scattered thousands of miles apart,[/quote]

I’ve heard Las Vegas and Phoenix are good markets to buy and hold right now. I guess there’s no reason I couldn’t do that. Are those markets that much better than San Bernardino/Riverside counties? I don’t know. Is finding and buying them harder from a long distance (Phoenix) than from a medium distance (San Bernardino)? I guess you’d have to have an agent you really trusted to do that. Right? Or is there another way?

[quote=Jazzman]
and have been a landlord for 25 years. It’s all about the numbers, and rule number one is never believe them at first glance.
[/quote]

What are some of the common surprises that you encounter?

[quote=Jazzman]
Second, finding a reputable property manager is key, so you might want to start there.
[/quote]

Do you (or does anybody here) know a good one in SB or Riverside counties, Phoenix or Vegas?

[quote=Jazzman]
There’s a few operations out there that sell turn key, fully managed, already rented former REOs, with acceptable returns.
[/quote]

I image you’d pay a premium for that. But it might be worth checking out. Do you know where I could find such operations?

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So, 5 years ago when this thread was first posted, George Chamberlin was persistently cheer leading for San Diego housing. He was quite certain he was right, but clearly he wasn’t. His logic and reasoning were biased and faulty and naturally things didn’t turn out the way he thought they would. I hadn’t really paid any attention to him in the last 5 years; I figured he ran away and hid. I mean, if he’d been reasonable but wrong, that’d be fine. But he was a real jackass and mocked those who disagreed with him. How embarrassing for him, right? Apparently not. The other day I get an email from my credit union talking about how we’re invited to a George Chamberlin seminar. So I google him and he’s all over the place. People still listen to him.

WTF?

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[quote=walterwhite]I don’t like steak, the NFL or cream pie. I’m in the mood for some fried scorpions and just reading by the beach[/quote]

Bring some Confucius to read at the beach. And remember, Confucius say, “Fry scorpion not fry scorpion without curry.”

[zk]

Vagrancy has its lure, but I’d miss too many things.

I love the differences of other places when I go there. And those differences have, at times, made me tempted to move there. Not a fantasy or a whim. Actually tempted to retire there. Hence, I’ve given this a lot of thought. And I’ve concluded that to stay there permanently and visit other places rather than to stay here permanently and visit other places would just be, for me… too much of that and not enough of this. Not enough of America.

Things I’d miss:

American culture. Sure, it gets slammed, and it has its low points. But it’s not home if it’s not American.

My friends and (extended) family. Of course. Sure, you could make new friends over there. But it’s not the same. For instance, you take up a new hobby here, and you’re likely to meet lots of people you can relate to. It’s harder to make that connection and have it last with somebody from a different culture. At least the percentages would be different. Having a few (or a lot of) friends from other cultures is interesting and fun. Having all of them be from another culture… I think that’d be another story. Having 8 Cambodian guys over to watch (American) football (if you can find it on your satellite) on a Sunday afternoon (although if you want to watch it live, it’ll actually be on very early Monday morning) isn’t quite the same.

A half-decent steakhouse. Doesn’t have to be Morton’s. Outback is just fine. They might have the occasional steakhouse there (if Malaysia is any guide) but it’s not the same. Things taste different, the service is different, everything’s different.

The steakhouse is really just a representative for bars, restaurants, museums, amusement parks. Heck, even beaches and golf courses. Almost anything you do for fun. Sure, they have them there, but they’re different. Which, like I said, is fun for a week or a month or maybe even a year or two. I think I’d really start to miss home at that point.

Relatively short trips to Big Bear, San Francisco, L.A., Vegas, even Chicago or New York.

There are more, but I’m off to Outback with the family. Then a movie on the big screen. And then to pick up a banana cream pie at Von’s on the way home. I love life in America.

[zk]

[quote=captcha]

The fee is not the same for all CFD’s. For CFD#6 that covers 4S the fee is $100. Someone mentioned recently that another CFD (Santaluz?) charges $500.[/quote]

[quote=outtamojo]The person I talked to about SEH CFD said a ballpark payoff estimate is free but an exact figure will require a fee that can go toward payoff.[/quote]

Thanks.

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[quote=paranoid]ER, you pay a fee but it is waived (deducted) when you pay the total payoff amount to pusd, so effectively it is free.
I’m still amazed by the huge rate they charge: total payoff is $57.5k , but current yearly MR is $5.7k until 2042(?). I believe most people don’t know that they are charged at such a rate.[/quote]

So the quote is only free if you decide to pay it off?

How much is the fee for the quote? Thanks.

[zk]

[quote=Allan from Fallbrook]
I’ll give you a little leeway because you’re young and clearly don’t know how the tech world operates, but get your facts straight before you pop off, alright?[/quote]

Turns out markmax is 32 years old. I thought he was 17 or 18. When did 32 become an age where one gets a pass because of their youth? Not long ago, that was an age where one was expected to have a pretty firm grip on things.

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[quote=briansd1]

I’m kind of an adherent of Tiger parenting. It works. It’s actually not much different from a strict Catholic education where eduction is the primary goal and religion is only secondary.[/quote]

Having been raised in a strict catholic environment and seeing tiger parenting all around me in CV (including my wife’s attempts at it), I can tell you that there is a vast difference between the two. They’re not in the same league. I’m not even sure it’s the same sport.

[zk]

“Dude, my momma’s gonna kill me.”

Hilarious.

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Anybody have experience renting to the type of demographic you find in that part of Normal Heights? I guess any time you’re renting to the poor, you’re going to have issues. It seems like it could be harrowing enough to not be worth it. But, of course, you’re not going to find stuff at 100x rent that the upper-middle class will be renting. So I’m curious to hear what anyone has been through renting to the working class.

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[quote=markmax33]
Just because you don’t like somebody’s policy you have the moral authority to call him unelectable? You get to “define common sense”?
[/quote]

Fortunately, markmax, I’ve got too much of life going on outside this blog to take the time to answer your off-balance, sometimes desperate, usually goofy rants. Right in your first line you say things like “moral authority to call him unelectable” and that I’m defining common sense. None of that makes any sense, and your post only gets loonier from there.

You make an occasional good point and, as I said in a post a month or two ago, I admire your tenacity and energy. I think some day you’ll be an asset to some candidate, but for now you’re too shrill, obnoxious, angry, certain, inflexible, and overbearing. Also, you refuse to see others’ points of view or admit when they have a point. You twist anything and everything to make your candidate look good, and you refuse to see any weaknesses in your candidate. If you talk as though your candidate is perfect, you come off as delusional, and any good points you make might be written off to that delusion. Hopefully, you’ll understand all that as you get older. Good luck.

[zk]

I’m on a short break at work. I’ll get to some of these now and some later.

[quote=markmax33]
Since you are an electabilty expert or seem to be claiming there is a science or way to explain electablity can you please answer me the following questions:[/quote]

I’m not an expert, and I didn’t claim there was a science. And I’ll admit that I could be wrong about only Huntsman or Romney being electable. Anything’s possible. But if I were going to vote for a republican in the primaries, I’d use some common sense and not vote for somebody who I thought had little or no chance of winning.

[quote=markmax33]
1. Why was Ronald Reagan deemed unelectable by the mainstream media and got elected and now is considered one of the best Republican Presidents in recent history? Reagan endorsed Paul remember…[/quote]

I don’t recall Reagan being deemed unelectable. I was around and I was watching, and I don’t remember that. Perhaps there were a few calls that he was unelectable, and perhaps those calls have been cherry picked out of history to make that claim. In any case, he’s one of the best presidents in recent history because he was, despite his rhetoric, quite pragmatic and able to deal with democrats to get things done. Our politicians have lost the ability to compromise and work together for the good of the country as a whole. But I digress.

[quote=markmax33]
2. Why is Ron Paul the only republican candidate to get the Independent voters out and switch over democrats and why aren’t we discussing that? I think none of the rest of the candidates have a shot because they will not turn out those voters. That is electability! [/quote]

No, that isn’t electability. Paul is not getting out independents and switching democrats in the numbers required to get elected. And, because of some of his positions, he most likely never will. If he did those things in sufficient numbers, that would be electability. But he isn’t and he won’t be.

[quote=markmax33]
3. Ron Paul was elected 12 times already, has sold thousands of books and only votes based on the Constitution. When every other candidate is going to march in there and violate the constitution, how can you knowingly vote for them? [/quote]

Elected 12 times. To what? Congress? Means nothing. Sold thousands of books? Means nothing. Every other candidate? But not Paul? I don’t think so. Besides, there’s more to running a country than hewing precisely to every letter of the constitution. I know that’s shocking. Try not to faint.

[quote=markmax33]
4. When the end result of every single democrat and republican has been to run up massive debt how can you knowingly call them electable and plan A or B?[/quote]

I’m not happy about the democrats and republicans running up massive debt, either. And I do wish there were a candidate who was serious about reducing the deficit but who didn’t have the other problems that Ron Paul has. But there isn’t. One has to choose from the options available, and to me the best one isn’t Ron Paul.

[quote=markmax33]
5. Ron Paul has won every single debate according to facebook polls and other verified polls. How is he not electable? [/quote]
[quote=markmax33]

First of all, Ron Paul’s supporters, probably due to their demographics, have more on-line presence than the other candidates. Hence the facebook poll victories. How is he not electable? Not enough people would vote for him.

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