Mance Rieder

Get fully pre-approved with a local lender before you start touring, not after you find the house, because in San Diego the good ones move fast and sellers want to see you're ready. And look past the staging. I manage rentals, so I'm looking at the roof, the HVAC, the permits on that garage conversion, and what the place would actually rent for, because that tells you a lot about what you're really buying.

Price it right from day one and do the prep before you list, not after the first price drop. I've taken over a lot of expired listings, and the pattern is almost always the same: the home went up overpriced and under-prepped, and it sat. A few targeted repairs and updates usually pay for themselves, and I coordinate that work so you're not managing contractors on your own.

Sellers make up about 60% of our business, from first-time sellers to longtime owners and families handling probate and trust sales. On the buyer side I work with first-time buyers, move-up buyers, families relocating to San Diego, and a good number of investors, including 1031 exchanges, small multi-family, and ADU projects. A lot of our past buyers keep their properties with our property management company after closing.

A past client wanted to trade out of a single-family home into something that cash flows. I handled the sale and the 1031 exchange purchase together so there was no gap between them, and we landed a duplex in Chula Vista. Now we're planning an ADU to turn it into a triplex. That's the kind of deal I like most, where the numbers and the long-term plan both make sense.

I started 10 years ago, right here in San Diego where I grew up. Today my father Dennis and I run Rieder Homes Group together as a father-son team, along with our own property management company. Working with family means our name is on every deal, and we treat every client that way.

The most useful training I have is hands-on. I flip properties, own income property, and our team manages around 150 rental doors, so I run cap rate and cash-on-cash myself, pull real rental comps, and ballpark rehab costs without guessing. I'm not learning the numbers alongside my clients.