All Forum Posts by: Andrew Frowiss

Hi @Nadine O. I would recommend looking into Austin TX or Killeen TX depending on your budget and goals. Austin is getting more expensive, but still a lot cheaper than many places in California (I used to live in Santa Barbara). Austin would be more of a single family house hacking play as multi family in Austin is much more expensive and there isn't much multi family available. It's a high appreciating city which is why so many people are buying here. 

If you wanted to get into multi family house hacking then look into Killeen TX. It's only an hour away from Austin so if you wanted to be in a bigger city it's not too far. You can get a 4 plex for the same or less than the cost of a single family house in Austin (average cost of single family in Austin is $450K). 

Austin is more of a break even or slightly negative cash flow, but with high appreciation per month. Killeen is still a good cash flowing city, and has less appreciation than Austin. 

Hi @Antonio Jeremiah Yambao It's great that you are starting so young! I started when I was 20 and It's one of the best decisions I've made. I would look into house hacking, investing out of state (in an area with lower purchase prices), or wholesaling. I personally got my start with wholesaling since it's a low or no out of pocket cost. 

If you can get really good at finding deals, there are other Investors out there that have the funds to partner with you. Go to Investing meet ups and make some connections so you are ready when you find a motivated Seller. Then you could wholesale the deal or partner with them to get some more experience and see the deal till the end.

No matter your strategy I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors! Stick in there and don't give up!

Hi @Craig Ancier great question! I don't have a rental property, but I'm trying to get my first at the moment. This isn't the first deal I've done though. When I got into real estate I was an Agent with no experience, and I went right into wholesaling. I knew it was a way I could do deals with little to no money out of pocket so I got really good at finding motivated Sellers and getting deals under contract at good prices. I had some connections I made through networking at Investor meet ups who wanted deals, and had the funds to invest. When I found deals they would partner with me and either buy the deal from me and pay me a flat fee, or we would partner on the deal and I would see it through till the end. When I approached motivated Sellers I would give them the option of selling the home to me, or I could put it up on the market and get them full retail price for their home. It was nice to be able to have another option besides just buying the property with cash. 

I ended up starting a property management company since most of my clients were investors buying rental properties in Austin, and now I primarily help other investors purchase their investments, and manage them. 

I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors! 

Hi @Brandon Stack it all depends on your future real estate goals long term. These are just my thoughts, but you could 1031 your equity into a downpayment on a larger property. Hold onto it for a few years and rinse and repeat. Years down the road if you aren't liking the cash flow you are getting you can 1031 your funds into a different market out of state with a Property Manager in a place with higher cash flow, lower appreciation, and purchase prices.

Anyway I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors!

Hi @Anuja Agrawal I would recommend you look into investing in Killeen TX. It's an hour north of Austin and it's still a good market to find cash flowing properties with decent appreciation, and low purchase prices. I help Investors buy there regularly. It's getting a little more competitive but still not nearly as bad as Austin. 

 I was about to type up something just like this. I agree 100%.

Hi @Grace Modl it depends on what works for you. If you rent you are always throwing that money away, but if you own you will see some of that money back later on when you sell. 

In Austin there are still lots of Investors buying properties up even though it's mostly a negative cash flow or break even situation. Austin has been appreciating at a high rate so they are banking on the appreciation as well as the Tenants paying their loan down every month. Taking it all into consideration it's enough for people to still buy in oversaturated markets and go over asking.

If you run the numbers and take into consideration your areas appreciation what does it look like? Are you ok with the numbers?

Do what you think will work for you.

Hi @Mike Adams my company looks at their 2 most recent employers. That might help you get a 2nd opinion at least. If you need to wait to talk to someone then I would if you have the time. I'm surprised there isn't a manager available to help you with that request instead of waiting for the Owner. Our applicants fill out a form stating that they give their employers permission to share info like that to us. Do you have something like this you could show a manager? In my experience sometimes it's just difficult to get the info you need.

Hi @Donta Williams if you don't like the area and don't want to hire a property manager then maybe it is time to sell. Can you reinvest those funds in the market you are moving to?  Or have you considered investing out of state? You could 1031 your funds into something else that will continue to make you money.

Just my thoughts on the topic. I think most people prefer to have a ceiling fan in most homes, but it's more headache because they can break. If there is plenty of ventilation and you don't want to deal with the headache in the future, then just get rid of it. If you don't mind dealing with it, then replace it.

Your situation is interesting because of the lower ceilings. If it was me I would not put ceiling fans on the lower ceiling since it may be an issue with taller individuals. I wouldn't want to limit my apps when Tenant screening.