Any ideas for low budget starting investments in NW ATX?

[Brendon K.]

I had a realtor show me some properties today for the first time. Among them I saw:

• A cute place 10 minutes from downtown that almost made me throw up from the curb because a decade of cat piss resided inside
• A one story that was trying to act like a two story with a metal spiral staircase deathtrap, rotting wood all over it, major cracks and water damage all over, and needed at least 60k of repairs and updates while it was posting only 10k below comps
• A duplex that looked like it was interesting until I found out it was right next to the street with some of the highest crime rates in austin.
• A grandma house that was a step away from i35 (one block of houses in the way). The noise was terrible.

The realtor didn't really follow the 70% rule at all; all of the properties were pretty close to comps and I really wouldn't be making money off them even if I was able to do all the work.

My work is close to 4 winds and 620 and I'm trying not to go past 30 minutes of commute time. I only have enough saved to do FHA as of now and I realize I need to get my capital up asap so I can start buying places with cash. How do people usually do this? How would you start getting capital really quickly when you have a decent job but very low net worth?

[Zachary Barton]

If you are using FHA you will have to live in the property for at least a year, I would recommend house hacking a duplex. There are some decent multi-family deals in Round Rock, that have a good amount of potential; solid growth rate, potential to ad value through TLC upgrades, and that are not to far away form your job.

Flips can be difficult to find but if you can justify offering less than asking price to get you your 70% rule, its worth a shot. The worse thing a seller can do is reject your offer but they could see reason.  Just because a home is overpriced doesn't mean it doesn't have potential.