Using MTR in Dallas, TX

[Matt Heidenfelder]

Hey all! Wanted to get some feedback. My wife and I will be making our first purchase in Dallas, TX later this year. This will initially serve as a primary residence for us using an owner occupied loan and we plan to start building our real estate portfolio from there.

We’ve been doing our research on strategies, neighborhoods to purchase in, etc. Being a realtor myself I have a good idea of which areas have good appreciation potential. With the new ban on short-term rentals in Dallas, we are very interested in the medium-term rental route.

One of our ideas was to purchase a new SFH or half duplex in a gentrifying neighborhood close by, live in it for 12 months while saving up to purchase our next home, then purchase/ move into our next property using another owner occupied loan and convert this first purchase into a MTR catering to travel nurses and other traveling professionals.

A back-up contingency plan would be the long-term rental route however it will be difficult with current prices to break even on the monthly payment so we’d be losing money monthly using this strategy.. these areas have good appreciation potential but I’ve always been taught that, with investing, if you don’t have at least a small amount of positive cash flow, it isn’t worth it. So the MTR route seems to be the Best Buy and hold strategy here.

What are some things we should be considering if we continue looking into this plan? Thanks in advance for your input!