All Forum Posts by: Tim W.

I wouldnt hesitate to call the signs. They are stereo-typically wholesalers which doesnt bother me. They do the leg work and find some deals and they make a cut. Its much easier than you advertising or devoting all the time to boots on the ground/driving for dollars. 

That being said, Im in the same boat as you. Im looking for some buy and hold and deals are almost non-existent. Im saving for better deals and going to wait it out. I can appreciate what @Kurt Carlton says though and looking at the long term game more than the short term. Low interest rates are great right now and can save you a ton over the long term. 

Estoppel letter is a must in my opinion. You need them to verify and agree to the lease and continuing forward under some type of legal paperwork. Trying to enforce a prior lease that is titled to another party wont be fun when trying to collect.

I think you need to look into the legalities of having unrelated people living in a house. Many times, there are restrictions to 5 or less. 

Take the one you can get... While its always great to have more properties, dont pass up good opportunities by trying to get greedy. Find family that will lend you money, hard money loan, or just partner. As the people say here...part of some deal is better than no deal. Have a way to buy out the partner

Im not a pro but live in the DFW area and have had a couple of properties I have purchased. Usually the EMD is refundable as long as there is a reason which is in the contract. I would think that they just want to make sure you are serious and can afford the property. I have seen people who are not qualified for a house nor have enough down payment for the house tie up properties and waste people times with the hopes of finding someone that will lend the money with next to nothing down.

If you think its a deal, I wouldnt hesitate putting down the $3500 but the contingency is based upon inspection, lending, etc...

What are the chances of rezoning it to MF? You could put in a bid contingent on the rezoning. I would not step into the group home thing as I believe you need staff to do that. A larger assisted living facility is something I would love to get into but thats a mix of business and real estate investment. 

Im glad Michael said it because oil/gas is not the only market in Houston. While it is a large industry, there is lots of medical and other businesses around. I wouldnt hesitate investing in Houston. People are not flocking from major Texas cities like they are many other states. 

How is electricity only $60/month in California? When tenants dont pay utilities, they rarely care how much they use.

One of my biggest lessons in remodeling is time is money. While I didnt flip my own house, we took 18 months and totally gutted it and remodeled. We had $18k in holding costs. Looking back, I would have been better off paying for the remodel to be done and moving in faster. I know you are talking about a live in flip, but dont forget what it entails. Living without a kitchen for a month (it always takes much longer than you think it will) is a killer. I know construction and enjoy remodeling but I will tell you I severely underestimated the amount of time it would take. 

The numbers look..ok... Id look into seeing if you can split out the water bill to the tenants to reduce costs. If those are the numbers, NOI is 13k/yr which isnt bad. Also, you need to verify the leases and make sure the tenants have a lease.

50% rule would say $800/mo in expenses, $800/month in income. Minus a loan of $80k @ 5% for 30 years is $429. Quick cashflow calc puts it over $100/door.