New STR Investor from DFW,TX looking to network and connect with go givers

[Lauren Lockett]

Good morning! 

I work nights and everyday I say I'm going to try to wait to post during the day like a normal person. That could be in another 2 months so let's just get to it! :) 

Hey guys, my name is Lauren! My husband James and I live in Grand Prairie (a suburb of DFW,TX!) with our 2 sons- Cole and Canon. After following the Smarter Phases, I've locked down some goals/strategy and am now on the Market Phase of the process. My goal is to invest in a short term rental property in Texas, Oklahoma or Mississippi, but I'm honestly trying to figure out the market part by researching and really landing in on a spot to invest. I live in Texas currently, was born in Mississippi and grew up in Oklahoma. I've got some funds for a down payment and have realized with my income it'll be best to really study creative financing and learn more about strategic ways to leverage what I have. 

I first got interested in real estate right before having kids and ended up Airbnbing my place for a few years up until 2018 because I figured I'd need more income and options to invest for their future. I also want to travel and give more. I'm here now wanting to restart and get serious about real estate investing. 

I'm looking to create long-lasting relationships with go givers. (in real life, I've started reading a book a week on relationships and networking...because growth right?) 

Here's a question I have. How on earth do your provide value in this community when you're new?! 

[Bruce Lynn]

There are a couple of meetups I think you might find helpful. One is on Saturday mornings in East Fort Worth, so that might be the closest to you. That is Robin Carriger's group I think called DFW REIA West. Probably if you google the name you can find it, or if you search meetups on BP you can find one of my posts with links to many of the groups. Normally about $20-$25 to attend.

Another is NTAREI, normally meets in Dallas at Preston/LBJ on Thursday nights and sometimes Tuesday nights.  Roger is the organizer.  I think cost is about the same, maybe $25/meeting.

Both have recently had STR experts speak.

One thing I would recommend, if it is a hands on investment, buy closer than further away. STR can be intensive. Think about when the microwave doesn't work or light bulbs go out or the faucet is leaking. You can pay someone $100-$200 to go to WalMart and replace the microwave or you can do stuff like that yourself. You can't do that if it is in MS, hard to do if it is in OK and will get real old real quick if you're making 2-3-4hr drive to OK on a Saturday to do stuff like this.

No matter what you decide, I think it is a great idea to have some reserves before you do it.  I recently heard a hard money lender say he would like to see borrowers have $50,000 in reserves to cover contingencies.  He's just seen too many people get into trouble when surprises happen, or market changes, or things take longer, etc.  At first I thought that was a pretty big number for reserves, but then got to thinking of many investors I've helped and networked with...and that is probably a really good number.   Plenty of people invest on a shoestring and maybe it all works out, but it can be super stressful.   Seems like everything goes wrong all at once and having those reserves helps smooth things out.  Ask all the people who had rentals in 2008...ask the apartment investors today if life is a bit stressful.   For the first time ever, the past few weeks I've seen probably 20 projects in Fort Worth area that are 85% complete and somewhere in that stress process.  In distress sale mode or in foreclosure sale mode or somewhere in that realm.  Likely to loose all their equity and all their sweat equity.   Not sure what the story is, but that cannot be a fun place to be....and I'm guessing many were doing it on a shoestring with no reserves.