San Antonio - Looking to Buy and Hold

[Ben Wilde]

I'm San Antonio born and raised living in California now. Looking to develop a network in San Antonio to help find deals.  I'm an architect by training with pretty robust construction experience.  First property was a home for myself in Austin that was literally a meth house before I got a hold of it.  I did the rehab myself and added a bathroom and second unit.  Second property was a duplex purchased from relatives at a discount (a gift).  Both properties cashflow, and I mange all four units from here in CA.  I want to expand this portfolio, but haven't really done a true investment deal yet, so looking to talk it through with more seasoned folks.    I live in CA, so my ability to perform a rehab myself is limited.  However, I still want to put my money to work in Texas real estate, as I plan to be back there in the next 2-3 years and would like to have my investments in one region so as to be able to manage them more efficiently.  From my perspective, my competitive advantage of being able to do rehabs myself has been removed with my move to California.  But I know that there is still a way to make money with real estate investing from out of state, so I guess I'm just looking for advice and stories of how others have done it, specifically in the SA metro area.  I'm also looking for local realtors and contractors that specialize in investment properties.  I still need to do a bit of research into how much cash I could pull out of a refinance of my first property, but I think that I would have somewhere in the range of $60,000 to $80,000 cash available for my next deal.  Can't wait to hear from y'all.  

[Rick Pozos]

Very low unemployment rate means people are very busy right now. Sometimes people can be less than trustworthy especially if you or your manager can not be at the jobsite everyday. Be careful. I have heard too many horror stories about Cali folks who bought from a wholesaler or Realtor and the rehab never finished or it ended up WAY over ARV.

You can always be the lender for friends who are still in the SA area.

Buy 1sts or 2nds that are performing or non-performing in SA or surrounding areas.

Remember just because an area or city is cheaper than where you are does NOT mean it is a better deal. You could buy a 200k house that is worth 180k and just because it sounds cheaper than the 800k houses in LA, it might not be a deal.