New Investor from Houston, TX

[Tyler Dreher]

Hello BP Community,

I have been on the site and listening to the podcast for a while now, but have just recently decided to get more involved in the forum. My wife and I are originally from Nashville, TN and moved to Houston about a year and a half ago after graduating from Auburn University. I am a mechanical engineer and she is in school to be a nurse practitioner. We are both very interested in real estate and bought our first house back in July. We were sold on the idea of "house-hacking" (I was at least... she wasn't so sure), but after looking for months for a duplex, triplex, or fourplex we caved and bought a 17-year-old townhome in the inner loop (just north of Rice Village). We were able to get it below market because of some issues that turned up during the inspection, and because it needed some cosmetic upgrades to bring it up to the standards for the area. Once we fix it up and my wife finishes school in the Med Center, we plan to hold onto it as a rental property. I guess you could describe our strategy here as a longer-term, live-in BRRR. We have also just recently listed it on airbnb to try our hand as a short-term rental host.

Additionally, since moving to Houston I have partnered with a family friend to start a commercial and residential roofing company. Initiated by my interest in real estate and house flipping, I began spending weekends with this friend of mine (who was working for a roofing company at the time) to learn how to evaluate the condition of roofs and estimate the cost of repairs/replacements. After hearing stories from some of his customers and seeing first hand how poorly most customers were being treated by contractors, we knew we could do better. Since starting the company we have experienced rapid growth (we now have an office in San Antonio and in Houston) and have been amazed how easy it has been to exceed customer expectations by providing quality work backed by honest business practices. If anyone has any questions about how to estimate the price of a roof, how to evaluate the condition of a roof, or anything else related to roofing or exterior renovations please feel free to message me. I am not trying to promote our business, I am simply trying to learn more about real estate and provide value to fellow BP members in any way I can. 

As far as a question to get me started here, does anyone have any experience as an airbnb host in Houston? I looked at everbooked to get a feel for the market, and have reached out to several hosts in my area, but I would love to connect with anyone that is actively hosting in Houston, or any experience hosts anywhere in the country that would be willing to provide some advice on getting started. Thanks in advance! 

Tyler