All Forum Posts by: Aaron Bihl

There are deals...they are just hard to find on the MLS or from wholesalers. Learning to source my own deals has been one of the greatest investments i've made. The house I closed today very conservatively was a 58% deal, that I should be in and out of in 60 days. And my hard money lender was happy to lend on it.

Hey @Jeffrey L Jerschina, 

Welcome to SA! A few quick thoughts on VA, depending on what you buy and where it may be difficult with a VA loan. Many of the neighborhoods more near downtown and inside 410 consist of homes built in the 20s - 50's which I think are awesome and have a ton of character but can be difficult to pass a VA appraisal/inspection even if they are recently remodeled.

I recently had a house close on with a completely remodeled house built in the 60s i believe and the VA appraiser failed it 3 times due to paint chips on the ground outside the house that no one could seem to find.  Additionally, I just sold my personal house that was built in the 20's and avoided VA altogether.   A lot of this seems to depend on the appraiser and maybe how they are feeling that day. 

On VA loans in general, I think they are a great tool and 0% down is awesome as long as its a choice.  I get a little scared with folks buying houses with 0% when they can't afford closing costs or earnest money. 

Also, on the selling side there is somewhat of a hierarchy of financing options. Cash>conventional>FHA>VA

Hit me up if you have questions about different parts of SA or anything like that.  I'm a pretty big fan of this city and want others to enjoy it as well!

20k on the most recent and then 5k on the one before it

I'll shoot you a message @Miles Stanley

@James M.  there are plenty of meetups in and around San Antonio.  You could easily go to 1-2 a week if you really wanted.  Rick’s group is a good one, my broker along with Texas quest capital have one the first Tuesday of the month. 

I occasionally go to the Alamo REIA, it's a big bigger and harder to meet folks because of the setting but it's a solid group.

And to touch on your questions about wholesalers keeping all the good deals.   Yes to some extent his happens, which is probably a good thing because this can help you find out who is actually doing deals.

Also, you’ll find that investors wholesale properties for a number of reasons.  They may have too many projects going on, it may not be in the area of town they like to do flips or own rentals, or simply it’s quicker to get in and out.  

So in short, yes investors probably keep some deals for themselves but that doesn’t mean the owns they choose to wholesale are bad deals. 

@Josiah Sia  I have a handful of airbnbs in San Antonio,  none in any of cities within san antonio (I don't know if there is a name for those, but like alamo heights, leon valley, castle hills etc).  I don't believe there are laws/ordinances for those cities but I also don't operate in any of them.  

I do know that the cities infrastructure for collecting HOT is meant to be used for all of bexar county and they collect on behalf of bexar county.  I wish I could be more helpful but I'm not aware of any information on it.

Awesome place!  My jaw dropped when I saw you bought the place for 23k. 

@Chris Bodden welcome to SA! I occasionally go to the Alamo REIA. I prefer the smaller groups, @Rick Pozos has a good group.  My broker along with Texas Quest Capital have one the first tuesday of the month, it's super low key but a good place to meet folks and learn what people are doing.

@Brandon Kingcaid  We will see...So far its been a 350 dollar application and two weeks of my house being vacant when I could have guests.  I'm thinking it should be approved soon, but you never really know.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $222,000

This a property I bought from a friend with owner financing, I was able to purchase the property with 10 percent down. It has a back house with a long term tenant and the front will be a short term rental.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

I like beacon hill, I believe I purchased it under its actual value. Over 2 years ago it appraised for 225k and I believe I could sell for 250-275k.

I like the extra unit with a tenant in the back and the main house has a ton of character and will make a great airbnb.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

A friend and fellow investor sent it to me and asked if I was interested or knew anyone who might be.

How did you finance this deal?

Owner financing.

How did you add value to the deal?

I plan to move into and fix up the back unit, and then eventually use it as a medium term rental (furnished corporate rental)

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Do your homework. I'm waiting on my permit to operate from the city. There was a hang up with the back unit not being permitted correctly so I'm working to address that before I can get the permit. Hopefully it will be resolved soon but definitely has delayed things and it's painful to have an Airbnb ready to go that cant be used yet.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Excel title on the owner financing end. They are great!