All Forum Posts by: Amber Huang

Thank you for all your advice! The seller accepted our offer, but we decided to walk away from this deal. I have a lot more to learn about real estate investing. I'll keep on reading and  learning more about the market. Now I understand the importance to have a strategy and goal and stick to it whenever possible. Thanks for your help!

Thank you so much for all your feedback! I did use the rental calculator to analyze the deal. There are two reasons we are considering Dallas TX area: 1. We live in Montgomery County in Maryland. The properties around us don't meet the 1% rule at all. The housing price is already high. 2. I read a lot on the forum that Dallas TX is a good place for investment, until I realized how much property tax they pay and the houses are flying off the market there. 

-- Justin Ericsson, I did check maverick investment's Website. They don't have Dallas TX on their market list. 

-- Eric Wesley, it would be interesting to hear what kind of deals are available in Maryland. In general, I am looking for properties in a safe neighborhood and easy to rent. 

Hi, I am new to real estate investment. I learned a lot from reading all the postings on the forum. I have been looking for a SFH in DFW as my first investment property for the past couple of months. We just put an offer in yesterday on a SFH in Cross Roads, Denton County. Now I am doubting if I made a right decision to invest in Texas. The house is listed for $169K, but there are multiple offers already two days after it's been listed. We offered $175K, but the average rent for that area is only $1450-$1550. After subtracting all the expenses, there will only be about $60 cash flow each month. With the high property tax and high insurance in Texas, it's very difficult to find a property that generates cash flow. Is this still a good deal to move forward? It doesn't seem like one based on the calculation.

Thanks to everyone for your great advice and reference links. I got the interest rate from a lender and home insurance estimate. After I plugged the numbers in, I was very surprised to see that the house actually has negative cash flow. I never thought the operating expenses would be that high. The question is where I should look for investment property in Montgomery County. The housing price here is already high. Should I look elsewhere, like Frederick or Prince Georges County? Thank you.

Hi,

I am new to real estate investment. I have looked at different townhouses for the past few weeks (in Maryland). There are three potential properties I am interested in, but I am not sure what is the best way to evaluate them. They all have similar size, but option #1 is very close to subway (for people commuting to Washington DC), highway and major shopping centers, listing price $415K, built in 1986, the realtor said similar property in the community rented for $2300/month. Option #2 is brand new home, $385K, but far away from subway, about 3 miles from highway, similar new home in that community rents for $2200/month. Option #3 is close to highway, major shopping centers, about 3 miles from subway, listing price $329K, built in 1989, similar home rents for $1800/month. If I buy a brand new home, it would be minimum maintenance cost for many years, but the location is not as good as the home built in 1980's and need more maintenance. Any suggestions on how to evaluate them for investment? Thank you.

Amber