The Beginning
I’m writing about a real estate development project in Joshua Tree, California. I don’t have much writing experience and only a small amount of real estate experience. I figure, many others like myself, each and every day aspire to become more involved with real estate investing and development. As such, it may be worthwhile to document my experience throughout this process in hopes of providing insight to others who find themselves on a similar path.
This began early in 2018 when my fiancee and I spent 1 night in Joshua Tree. We used AirBnb to find a very well designed studio called The Shack Attack. It was small but exactly what we needed and filled with character in every corner. The style was “bohemian” with concrete floors and a modern feel. We spent time listening to classic records and sipping coffee while the sun adorned the desert landscape from every angle along it’s daily journey. The closest strip of shops and restaurants was about 15 minutes away with about half of that being dirt road driving. There are several interesting places to check out, including Pie for the People (Pizza) and The Joshua Tree Coffee Company.
I barely spent a moment of time there but the entire experience left me intrigued with Joshua Tree and my gut said the popularity of this vacation destination would continue to grow. I immediately did what I usually do when I visit a new and interesting place; I opened Zillow on my iPhone and looked at local properties listed for sale. Coming from South Bay Los Angeles and it’s high real estate prices, I was surprised to find relatively large pieces of land for under $80K. I wondered, “what if I bought land here” … “how hard would it be to build something like where we stayed and would I be able to make money on AirBnb”.
After some rough math and speculation, I decided this would be a financially viable investment opportunity, or if nothing else, an educational endeavor. I explained all of this to my Mom who has been an independent real estate broker for a long time. She was almost immediately more excited by this idea than I was. Even when I raised doubts, she insisted that the opportunity to own land in California at a good price and somewhere as cool as Joshua Tree should not be an opportunity that we wait on. Even if we turned out to be wrong, we’d hopefully end up with a cool vacation property of our own.
We soon thereafter came across a 2.5 acre property for $25K. It had an existing structure which was far from livable and no utilities to speak of. It would be an entirely new set of challenges but without much hesitation we made a cash offer and quickly closed the deal. What follows will be a journaling of my true experience in taking on this project, including the decision/thought process and any obstacles that are overcome along the way; all in real-time!
p.s.: Joshua Tree is really a cool place to visit. In regard to the many things that would attract one to visit, I won’t even attempt to do it justice. I strongly encourage anyone to do a bit of online research and I’m certain you will soon be enchanted with this high dessert wonderland.
