All Forum Posts by: Alfred Litton

@Joe S. We purchased our first 3 rental properties before hiring her, so they were in good shape. One we purchased a bit later, and it needed some work. We hired her handyman, and he got it done, but turns out it was a bit more work than he was used to. She no doubt knows a number of contractors that we really should have gone with for something that size. I'd call her and find out. She's been in the business for 30 Yrs+ and grew up there, so she knows everyone. If there's a contractor in the area who's good, she'll know him! Tell her I recommended you. (She's busy, but she'll return your call faster if you give them my name.)

I have been with Sandra Wortham for 3 years and am very happy. She is both a realtor and pm.  She manages about 200 properties, and does a good job. Never had a vacancy more than 30 days. Never had a bad tenant. I've not used her as a realtor but would trust her in the future if I needed one. Much of the rental property she sells is a bit below my level, but she respects my preferences and wouldn't steer me toward any of the C-class stuff I'm not interested in. Overall, very honest and professional. If there's any downside, it's that she has a lot of properties under management. She's also very used to out-of-state clients.

@Dick Rosen Thanks. I looked at them briefly about a year ago, but I guess I got spooked off by a couple of people who had some negative experiences with them. Are there any not so great aspects of working with them?

I will say that in TX our property insurance rates are crazy high because we basically don't regulate them . . . kinda like our electric companies. And you know how well that's worked for us! :)

@Kevin Koone Interesting! My properties have RCVs of about $160K apiece, and the premiums with 2% deductibles are running about $1000-$1100 each. Maybe that's not too far out of line. Hm. 

I've been consulting independent agents, but they can't seem to beat the increased rates I'm looking at. Our rates are really high here in TX.

BTW, I grew up in NLR and have friends there in Maumelle. Small world!

@Aj Parikh Never have filed a claim on any of our properties.

I'm at my wits' end looking for decent property insurance for my rentals (four SFHs). My rates have spiked 35% in the past 2 years. Is this happening to everyone else as well? I'm paying about $1000/yr each on homes valued at around $110K apiece. I've been shopping around a bit, but no luck. I realize we can't solicit here, and I'm not looking for that, but does anyone have any tips on how to seek out the least expensive homeowners insurance for rental properties? Am I missing something? Or are my rates and the recent premium spikes what everyone else is seeing as well? Thanks all!

@Steve Milford  Taxes in TX are higher than that. About 2.4%.  It's closer to $600/mo or even a bit more.

@Steve Kim If he's basing a multi-family property's value off of single-family home values, that's a red flag and a guarantee that he's priced too high. I'd be suspicious of the $104 off of $135 comparison. First, is $135 actually accurate for nearly new construction. Second, is a 30% discount from sfh valuations justified.

What town/city is this in?

@Steve Kim @Dennis Wayne  I have to agree with Dennis on this. I'd probably take a pass on this unless the seller is willing to cut the price by quite a bit. No offense to any real estate agents out there ("Some of my best friends are real estate agents"), but I am always a bit wary of buying investment property from them. Not because they're dishonest. Not at all. They're just danged aggressive on their asking price. Hard to get a good deal from them. Hey, they negotiate for a living. But whether it's because they are aggressive or just overly optimistic, their properties are just too high for me.

@Steve Kim What I would do is check the assessments of newly sold (2019) multifamilies in your appraisal district to see what they are paying.  So, for example, if there's been a couple of duplexes in the $250K-$400K range sold about 12-18 months ago, you'd want to see what they're paying now and how far off their appraisal is from what you think their market value is.  A real estate agent could help with that. Or, better yet, just look at what the published city, county, and special fee rates are overall, and you can bet that if you are paying $300K, it'll be assessed at a smidge under that but pretty close. If the rates are 2.5%, for example, assume that you'll be assessed at $290K at least. Every property I've ever bought has had a property tax pop the year after I purchased it. They have no mercy on us investors! I'm almost certain you are going to be paying $7200/yr on a $300K property by next year. Maybe more.