All Forum Posts by: Bradley Gaulden

thanks everyone for all the good feedback! My parents are very supportive, I don't dislike living with them...I dislike the hour to hour and a half commute to work each morning and the same, if not longer, at night. 

I have budgeted to pay off all credit cards by the end of this year, but I hadn't thought of being added to my parents card, that could be an option. 

Renting in the Dallas market is so fickle. they have tons of nice apartments, but they're all hoovering around $800-$1000, and the ones I would love to live in are $1300ish. I can afford it, but I just feel like throwing that much money away each month is crazy. Since I am young I feel like I can afford to be risky, to an extent, with my investments without having dire consequences on my retirement. If everything goes as planned, I could start building a good retirement portfolio straight out of the gate from college.

I have a friend who's lease ends next march that may go in with me to co-buy a property and then I could be his "tenant". that could be a creative way to start getting into the business. 

I just have to stay focused. I have days were I want to just bite  the bullet and say "screw investing, I want to live in this nice apartment like some of my friends" and then throw down the crazy money...but I know that would be foolish. 

well My biggest credit problems are: short history and high credit card utilization. I plan to have all CC debt gone by year end, which according to the credit score simulator on my credit card (using transunion data) It should bump me up to around 640 or so. (Not really sure of the authenticity of that, but I know once all the debt is gone it will make my score jump.) 

as far as the length of the credit history, I don't think there is anything I can do but wait. 

Good Afternoon y'all!

I recently moved to Dallas after graduating from Texas A&M University with my masters in Real Estate. I am currently working for a real estate lending company in Las Colinas. Working in the industry I see on a daily basis how awful rent is, and how badly I want to buy something to build equity. I decided to live at home after graduating this past December to pay off all "frivolous" debt, Ie credit cards and such from college. I should be done with that around December of this year.

My main question I pose is this: I will have roughly 15k to put down on a property by next March or April. I was thinking of trying to buy a condo under 75k. I was looking into FHA financing the property, living in it for a year or so to build equity and fix it up and either rent it out or sell it. As it stands now my biggest hurtle would be my 540 credit score, that no doubt will go out after paying off all credit card debt and such. If i had that 15k to invest, but it would completely break my bank, should I wait and rent for a year or so to build up a cash reserve? or bit the bullet, buy and then fix as I can using the funds from my paycheck and the savings I would have due to a lower mortgage payment then rental costs.

Ultimately I would love to find an investor mentor in the Dallas/Fort Worth area who would be willing to help me navigate my first purchase, or give me some sort of guidance in what direction I should take.

Thanks everyone!

( I posted this on another thread but moved it here because I felt the content was more appropriate under the starting out tab.)

@Jay Hinrichs I hadn't thought of actually analyzing the stability of the HOA. when you say look into their financials, do you mean making sure they're saving up for large Capex projects, or utilizing the fees in a responsible manner to make the properties look nice? 

They're mainly over utilized and my available credit to usage ratio is like at 95%. once the revolving credit is paid off it should be ok! I just have been carrying balances on my credit cards due to living on them through college. but they'll be taken care of soon! 

But yea, the HOA fee is what I have been watching closely. I have found a few properties along 75 and Loop 12 that have reasonable HOA as well as prices. so I am thinking that area may be idea to look in.

Good Afternoon y'all! 

I recently moved to Dallas after graduating from Texas A&M University with my masters in Real Estate. I am currently working for a real estate lending company in Las Colinas. Working in the industry I see on a daily basis how awful rent is, and how badly I want to buy something to build equity. I decided to live at home after graduating this past December to pay off all "frivolous" debt, Ie credit cards and such from college. I should be done with that around December of this year. 

My main question I pose is this: I will have roughly 15k to put down on a property by next March or April. I was thinking of trying to buy a condo under 75k. I was looking into FHA financing the property, living in it for a year or so to build equity and fix it up and either rent it out or sell it. As it stands now my biggest hurtle would be my 540 credit score, that no doubt will go out after paying off all credit card debt and such. If i had that 15k to invest, but it would completely break my bank, should I wait and rent for a year or so to build up a cash reserve? or bit the bullet, buy and then fix as I can using the funds from my paycheck and the savings I would have due to a lower mortgage payment then rental costs.

Ultimately I would love to find an investor mentor in the Dallas/Fort Worth area who would be willing to help me navigate my first purchase, or give me some sort of guidance in what direction I should take.

Thanks everyone!

@Tyler BradfieldI Forgot about all the ancillary departments. I am always surprised at how many there are! plus the new Bio corridor and expansion/consolidation of the HSC their are quite a few drivers. I wish the TCR would have been completed when I was at A&M! that would have been so nice to hope on a train to go back home. 

@Marc MurchisonWe have bounds and bounds of land to expand! :) lol so It is certainly far from done growing. I agree that the crazy boom in CS down off of William D Fitch and other areas is something to consider for being overbuilt. those homes aren't geared towards student rentals and I just don't see current economic drivers allowing for non-students to absorb the inventory. Although, it is giving non-students options to move to areas away from students allowing for investors to come in and create "student neighborhoods". I feel like the whole area behind Northgate between College Main and Welbourn is majority students in those older homes. as the University grows more jobs and services are brought in and provide jobs for people. Its certainly a different market from Dallas and SMU or Houston and Rice. 

I had this conversation with my dad about how my university is planning on having 25,000 students in the engineering department alone by the year 2025... not even factoring the other majors offered at the school. so needless to say student housing is super hot in College Station. I am not sure how Rochester is, since that is a community that has other economic engines. but College station IS the university. the only reason businesses are coming and the city is growing is because of A&M. so I am interested as well to see how a decline in enrollment of universities will affect the rental markets.

This might be nepotistic but my dad does insurance/has experience insuring my grandfather's portfolio of about 90 homes, including the homes he is currently flipping. 

duane@quoteapolicy is his email! I'm sure if you emailedhim he could answer your questions.