In our business, we frequently have clients come to us with pre-approvals from direct lenders like Bank of America, Wells, etc. The clients love the banks because they promise high loan amounts and low interest rates. And, on simple deals where there are no real issues with the borrower or the property, the direct lenders … Continue reading “The difference between a loan broker and a direct lender”
Author: Moses Kagan
How to negotiate a price reduction
I really, really hate chipping price during escrow. Do you know what I mean by “chipping price”? It’s when the buyer, after doing his diligence, comes back and requests a price reduction from the seller in exchange for removing contingencies and moving forward with the deal. Why do I hate it? I do an enormous … Continue reading “How to negotiate a price reduction”
Post-mortem on the Boyle Heights explosion
Have now had time to get a bit more perspective on the controversy we kicked off with our flyer last week. Thought you might appreciate hearing a bit more about how we’ve been affected by all the social media noise. So, in no particular order, here’s a summary: 1. Increased sensitivity. I’m personally much more … Continue reading “Post-mortem on the Boyle Heights explosion”
More on starting a real estate career
We now return to our regularly scheduled programming… Yesterday, I spent some time with a guy who is thinking about getting into the real estate business as an agent. I’ve written some about this before, which you can read here and various other places around the blog. But I found myself giving some new advice which I … Continue reading “More on starting a real estate career”
Boyle Heights gentrification survival guide
Over the past 12 hours, I have been thinking about whether I have anything to add to the discussion / controversy kicked off by our now-infamous bike -tour flyer. This blog, which is usually read by a few thousand people interested in investing in LA real estate, is suddenly getting a lot of attention from people who … Continue reading “Boyle Heights gentrification survival guide”
Boyle Heights
One of our agents created a flyer last week inviting renters downtown to a bike tour of Boyle Heights, a close-knit, working class, majority Spanish-speaking community east of the Arts District, with the intention of showing people the neighborhood so that they could possibly buy homes or small apartment buildings there. The flyer ended up circulating … Continue reading “Boyle Heights”
How we think about rents
Probably the most important part of our renovation projects comes at the very beginning, when we need to estimate the rents. Why? Because we think about deals backwards: Start with the estimated rents at completion This allows you to estimate both the stabilized yield (for a buy-renovate-hold play) and of the exit valuation (for a flip) … Continue reading “How we think about rents”
Rent vs. buy
This article in the Times is worth reading. The argument is basically that we’re entering bubble territory in single family home pricing in the main coastal cities. I think the rent estimates they’re using may not reflect the rents that are actually getting paid. That said, when I see small houses on small lots in … Continue reading “Rent vs. buy”
Elected!
Am delighted to announce my election to the Mid-City Neighborhood Council. Regular readers know how much promise I think exists in our neighborhood, which includes (roughly) the area between Venice and the 10, from Culver City all the way east to Koreatown. Mid-City is incredibly well-located: I’ve personally driven to the heart of Culver City … Continue reading “Elected!”
When a foot isn’t a foot
I’m mostly a price per sq foot buyer. Because I always renovate, I’m not very interested in the income of the building prior to acquisition. I am, however, extremely interests in the structure I am buying, since that structure is the raw material we will work with to produce the eventual product we are selling: … Continue reading “When a foot isn’t a foot”