Posted on August 26, 2010 @ 7:09 pm - Written by BawldGuy
So far this month there’s been a renewal of callers wishing to talk about locations offering appreciation in value. They couch it in amorphous language, but when the smoke clears, long term or not, they’re wanting to buy properties that’ll go up in value.
I wanna be a 23 years old major league pitcher with an indestructible right arm capable of throwing 140 pitches every fifth day at roughly 97 mph. Oh, and I wanna be able to have pinpoint control with not only my fastball, but my killer curve, and my virtually un-hitable sinking change-up.
I know, I’m bein’ a first degree smart-aleck. But you get the gist, right? Nobody — well, almost nobody, is sayin’ that appreciation can’t or won’t ever become reality again. But there are a couple lines here that’ll need to cross. The line that stretches down the road year after year ’till appreciation returns — and the line dictating when you shuffle off this mortal coil. 
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on August 24, 2010 @ 9:46 am - Written by BawldGuy
If you’re in your late 40’s or older, ensuring that time and your comfort zone play well together is easier said than done. I tend to be a stickler on comfort zone, as, like you, being anxious isn’t something for which I strive. In fact, along with the Sominex Account (cash reserves for newish readers), a real estate investor’s comfort zone resides at the top of the A-List of ‘must haves’.
The friction, of course, is caused by the practical need to get things rollin’ with a sense of urgency, while keepin’ at least one foot firmly entrenched in the Zone of Comfort. Frequently this results in the investor takin’ a step back to define exactly which comfort level they’re gonna salute, cuz there’s a couple, not just one — and their demands are often in conflict with each other — irritatingly so. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on July 7, 2010 @ 12:03 pm - Written by BawldGuy
If you haven’t read yesterday’s post, take some time now to go read it here — A San Diego County Duplex vs Texas Duplex. In it, I show the core rationale for San Diego real estate investors, and really the entire west coast, for Gettin’ Outa Dodge. In it I promised to publish a post today showing what the owner of that La Mesa duplex could accomplish in real life with a tax deferred exchange into Texas. This be that post.
The premise is that the La Mesa duplex investor has owned it since forever, and owes nothing on it. He’ll sell it for $300,000 — netting about $275,000 or so after all sales/closing costs. In fact, let’s make that $270,000 — as it’s no doubt being held in place by all the termites holding hands. Yeah, a cheap shot, but I speak from painful and personal experience. Own San Diego real estate? You have termites. Get over it. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on July 6, 2010 @ 2:30 pm - Written by BawldGuy
The other day I was test driving my newly installed IDX (That’s an app allowing visitors to my company’s website to search for San Diego properties.) when I decided to check out what a duplex goes for in the town in which I live and work, La Mesa. It’s in San Diego’s ‘East County’ and has always been a high demand location for investors in residential income property. Tenants are generally of demonstrably better quality, rents are higher, units easier to rent, and vacancy rates typically lower. Real estate investors have always loved La Mesa.
I found the lowest priced duplex in the zip code (91942), $300,000 — and did some quick, down and dirty numbers. I then compared those bottom line scratchings to what we’re able to offer in various markets in Texas — mostly the Dallas/Fort Worth MetroPlex. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on June 30, 2010 @ 8:22 pm - Written by BawldGuy
San Diego’s real estate values will continue their downward tilt through 2010. An opinion, but based on much data and the feeling in my right knee. Too many local investors have, with nervous smiles, pointed out the prices are slightly up year over year here. True enough. Tell ya what, why don’t ya buy several properties this summer, then we’ll talk next summer. It gets pretty quiet, sometimes uncomfortably so.
NOTE: Before continuing it’s important to understand San Diego ain’t the Lone Ranger here. There are numerous similar markets. All of SoCal and most of NoCal for example. (Think Palo Alto) But around the country, whatever I say here about SD is likely to have traction in many, many regions.
We’ve been culling through our database looking for income property owners who’re best positioned to effect a high quality move of their equity(s). We’ve been blessed and handicapped simultaneously by the reality of gettin’ up to speed on a brand new piece of database software. The blessing though is far outstripping the irritations of the necessary learning curve involved. It’s a killer program — the best I’ve ever seen. Anywho, we’ve been noticing a disturbing trend as it relates to new loans on investment properties.
Does this describe you? Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on June 28, 2010 @ 3:52 pm - Written by BawldGuy
Last Thursday’s post pretty much summed up my thinkin’ about what most, not all real estate investors should now be doing. A common denominator found in the daily calls and emails I receive is the ultimate question — What should I do now, if anything?
You may be surprised, or not, to learn that much of the time my counsel is to stand pat, or almost. For the record, ‘Doing something‘ isn’t a Plan. I read everything I can about the economy and real estate in general, and have frequent conversations with those in the business for whom I hold well earned respect. Allow me some relatively unfiltered PlainSpeak today. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on June 24, 2010 @ 3:44 pm - Written by BawldGuy
Beginning in 1976 or so, real estate investors, especially in markets like San Diego, the general SoCal region, much of NoCal (Palo Alto is an example), and a few other regions around the country, began to be conditioned to expect values to rise significantly over time. In fact, from 1976 through the end of 2005, their expectations were met without a single exception, long term. The cycle became not only reliable, but predictable. Appreciation, often double digits, would raise values for 3-4 years, much longer for this last one. Recession would cool things off, prices would either flatten out, maybe recede a bit. But they would always resume the seemingly inexorable march to ever higher prices. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on June 10, 2010 @ 4:23 pm - Written by BawldGuy
Live and invest in real estate in places like San Diego or Palo Alto California? Then you know exactly to what today’s title is referring. Living there is Paradise, but your income property? To be kind, it ain’t what it could be. Even after this correction, as persistent as it’s been, your properties still don’t spin off the income they should, given your current net equities.
Then there is the issue of age, a sore subject in many places, but none more so than San Diego County. Residential income construction has been little more than a faint rumor since Regan’s second term in office. In fact, if you don’t count the ultra-elite apartments which have been built on the coast and in Mission Valley, pretty much nothing of even minor consequence has gone up since around 1987. I know, cuz I’ve seen ‘em not go up. Read the rest of this entry »