All Forum Posts by: Bart H.

Yeah, usually I try to structure capital improvements as either methods to upgrade the property so I can keep great tenants, or else we have a tendency to do slow flips, might rehab a kitchen one year, and bath the next, the floors the next etc.

I would be surprised if your condo association even allowed for the replacement of windows, and if they did, I would most likely NOT spend 6.5K to keep a tenant that demanded them.

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Originally posted by @Eric Ruiz:

@Bart H.

That's a great point and option I forgot to mention in my original post. I also considered selling the property and not refinancing. Doing so would give me a good little nest egg to push further with more BRRRR opportunites. I'm seriously considering this. I think San Antonio is the same, I've now how two friends have their properties put under contract in under a week!

Having multiple options with my current home just makes me feel like I didn't do too bad buying it. So while my property didn't appraise at what I would've liked, I learned, and can still keep move forward without concern.

- Eric

I'd talk to a high powered real estate agent. See what the comps are, and decide if it makes sense to run as a rental or as a flip.

The two houses we were running were rentals that had gone up so much in price that it made sense to sell them. Plus we are tryin to mostly get out of Dallas proper, the city is doing a lot of dumb things.

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Originally posted by @Eric Ruiz:

Rob thanks for that, hearing I'm following a path as others makes me feel great lol. I like that rule, going to keep that in mind when considering cash outs.

How's the Dallas market been since Covid has hit?

- Eric

Purchase wise its a sellers market, it seems to be a super hot market.

I have sold one house and it was under contract within a week. We just put a second one on the market this Thursday. I had 2 offers, one full price, one over asking, so its also now under contract. We just reupped with an existing tenant for an additional year.

Honestly, we are looking at our whole portfolio, and plan to get rid of most of our properties, load up on cash, and then step back in and start doing some Brrr's.

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Originally posted by @Bruce Lynn:

I think this is a good plan if you can find the right house and the right friends that would like to rent a room in an old house.

There are several neighborhoods around the medical center area that are more or less prime for development/redevelopment.

At least 2-3 between HH and I35 and a couple further up HH. As you mention West Dallas is interesting. Some of that area south of 35 around Hampton/Inwood used to be very very rough, but it is improving it seems. Fairly new Charter school is liked by many. I believe it is Rangers foundation and maybe some other foundation have built the athletic fields around there. People are focused on the area.

I think the biggest trick is I never find any really really hungry UTSW students or residents that want to live there yet. Most seem to be focused around the area in condos/townhomes either renting or buying depending on their finances. Most seem to focus on Oak Lawn area, but some will venture further out to uptown/downtown/Cedars and even further out for residents to Farmers Branch, Irving, and some other cities.

Bruce, I think the OP was talking about moving back to Houston to go to med school.

As far as living near the Medical district, I have a different take. I have a property near the Medrano school, its been a fantastic place to find med students. We have a large SFH rented to 4 med students and its been a cash cow. 3 years ago we bought at 180K, put in maybe 30K, current appraisal is give or take is $425K, We have refinanced it and gotten all of our initial investment back out of the property. Its cash flowing about $900/month, and we still have the opportunity down the road to rebuild into a multi family property.

The area from essentially Wycliff to Parkland, HH to Maple, is imo one of the prime locations in all of Dallas. Almost hate to say it, because that's our most active hunting ground.

There were a couple of developers that were buying any empty lot in sight and that drove up the land values substantially. That I think has subsided somewhat.

But you see a fair amount of gentrification. Much of the area is zoned MF-2 even thought its SFH. There is massive area that has been bulldozed between Wycliff and Parkland headed up Maple. maybe a 10-15 square block area, and that's going to be built out here shortly. I think if you have a long term time horizon, that area is only going to go up over time.

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Houston, Texas

Originally posted by @Jeremy W.:

Hi guys,

I'm visiting Dallas next week with the intention of beginning to grow our portfolio, but we know we can't do it without quality, trusted boots-on-the-ground. Is anyone here from Dallas-area who would like to meet next week, and see if we can potentially work together in growing yours/our Airbnb business?

Thanks,

JW, send me a note, i'd meet up with you to discuss, give you my view of Dallas. I am formerly from Illinois and lived in Chicago.

I actually have a really nice 3/2 SFH coming up in the spring that we likely will be interested in selling in the Kids Springs area, walking distance to the Bishop Arts, pretty close to 30, downtown and is a really reasonable commute to the airports.

If you are interested in property we have coming up great, if not no problem, would still be willing to meet up and discuss real estate in the area.

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Originally posted by @Byron Bailey:

Good morning, All:

I have been on the sidelines, learning from all of you and have decided to pull the trigger on buying my first home. I did not go the hardcore investor route. Rather, I plan on buying a home on a program, live in it for a year, then repeat the process.

I have several questions regarding this strategy. First I will provide the numbers:

I am in Dallas, Texas. I am purchasing a 2019 new build in a developing part of town (Near the State Fair of Texas/Fair Park) for $155K. It appraised at $155K. It is a 3 bed/2 bath/1 car garage w/ 1180 sq ft. The program I used allowed for me to buy the home for $0 down and No PMI on the property, since it is in a low income area. Total cost to close will be around $4000. I believe I should be able to get at 1200-1400 in next year when I move.

Questions:

1. Do you think this is a good plan?

2. What are the key metrics/formulas you used to answer #1?

3. Do you think I should AirBnB it out or find roommates in my first year?

4. Does anyone know of anyway I could potentially buy another home within this first year to expedite the exponential potential?

5. If you have any other comments, suggestions, or any other advice to give a newbie, please share!

1) May I ask how well you know the Fair Park area? IMO its not the most idea place for a first time investor to start, and I think you may have problems finding tenants after you move out. And I don't think it will do very well as an Air BNB. IF anything look closer to 35, Maybe Elmwood, or near the zoo/new deck park.

2) If its a special loan for low income, are you sure you can lease it out? even after a year?

3) I would consider Rent/Purchase price, so call it $1,400/$159,000. and that should typically be at least 1%, and in the fair park area, I would really want 2%.

Now, I get it, its a house hack. We have done them several times now. I would consider a few things, what do you calculate the return at? Generally for a house hack, We run the numbers on about a 8-10% return, we look for areas that are in the path of progress, and we look for places that have multiple outs.

By multiple outs, can we rent it, can we sell it, can we do an Air BnB, can we add rooms, can we improve the value by reconfiguring or rehabbing the house.....Ie are there multiple ways to make money when we buy. Or at the least are there multiple ways to exit the investment.

It feels like to me that you are going for a new build in a transitional area where the rents wont really pay for the mortgage.

IMO I would rather take my changes in other neighborhoods, or surrounding towns. I think you will find that the total returns are better,

Best of luck to you!!!

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Originally posted by @Melody R.:

There does not seem to be a lot of short-term rental options on Airbnb in the Dallas area, specifically in the Park Cities, Knox-Henderson, Turtle Creek, Katy Trial areas. Anyone know why? As importantly, is anyone having success renting their place full-time on Airbnb? I have a Dallas condo that I am considering turning into an Airbnb full-time. I live in Los Angeles so I will be using a management company. Any suggestions on short-term management companies?

Thanks for answering all or some of my questions. :)

Do the park cities even allow Air B&B? I really don't know.

Most of the condos near the Katy Trail do not allow Air B&B's.

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Originally posted by @Stephanie Money:

Howdy everyone!

I am currently a student at Texas A&M and I will be graduating in December. I am OBSESSED with BP podcasts and am recently new to the forums which has facilitated and grown my love and passion for real estate. I have many goals when it comes to real estate and I know in order to reach those goals I need to "live like no one now, so that later I can live like no one" -a quote often said by Mendy. I have no problem with living frugally and smart in order to make my dreams of owning rental properties come to fruition, however the one thing that has been on my mind lately is whether or not I should step off the breaks a little bit and try to enjoy my 20s (obviously you need money to enjoy yourself i.e. travel, vacations, etc.) or if I should just hit the ground running post graduation and save save save so that I can invest and get started with real estate sooner. I know the longer I wait the more it probably won't happen because I will have a family eventually.

I just wanted to hear from experienced and more wiser investors on if they think it really is worth it to enjoy myself while I am young or if I should stay on track and save money and get into real estate so that later in life I can retire earlier and enjoy myself then???

Any Advice would be so greatly appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read and respond to a 23 year old with big dreams!

If your goal is to wait until X age to start investing, or start making money, then you will always find reasons not to start.

It gets more difficult not less difficult to reign in your spending, after you have started to spend, and after you have gotten married, had kids, sent kids to college etc etc.

Here is the thing, buy a house hack early, right out of college, and let that start working for you. Its the compounding effect that makes you rich, and its the time value of money you cant get back. Keep your spending where it was while you were in college, you really wont miss it.

My biggest mistake was not sticking with buying a new property once every year or two out of college. We got serious about it way late in life. I wish I had that 10-20 years back. I wouldn't need to work now.

Also I think you are making either or statement, invest now, OR enjoy my 20's, how about both?

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I would say find the first great deal, and then move to the second, then the 3rd....

By the time you get past the first 4-5, you will find some constraints on growth, at some point as you get close to 10, you can look to commercial loans, or owner financing. Or perhaps you may find that you want to sell all of your SFH, and take the money and reinvest it into multi family.

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Originally posted by @John Mestyanek:

Hello BP community, I've been busy soaking up BP Money podcast but was first introduced to BP by YouTube as I started exploring the world or RE Investing. I am a high school mathematics teacher in Dallas, TX, but take advantage of the lower cost of living in Irving, TX. I have been working to get my financial house in order and have been blessed with a unique opportunity to work with seniors this year and create my own curriculum. So I have been striving to provide my students with an introduction into the adult world of money. We have begun a reality check of adult expenses versus starting incomes from their desired professions. We are currently learning about funding college and will move into understanding how car loans work. Basically I am weaving real world mathematics into real world situation many of us had to face without any previous exposure.

That said, once we get back from our winter break I want to cover taxes and then move into real estate. Once they understand how a mortgage works and some of the options available, I'd love to have a Real Estate Investment project that they can work on that will introduce them into the world of REI. We are currently working on a Stock Market Game to introduce them to the concept of investing and using money to generate more money. There are many resources out there for the stock market but I have not been as successful finding a way for them to experience some of the necessary steps to research, analysis, and make a decision of investment properties. I do own Cashflow 101 and maybe able to borrow another from a friend, but I have about 150 students spread over 5 classes and would like to give a little more depth than the game offers.

Please let me know of anyone knows of any resources that would allow them to experience those kind of things. I would also love to connect with anyone in the Dallas area who would be interested in presenting to my classes about getting started on their REI journey.

On a personal note, I am also continuing to learn about REI and saving up for a down payment on my first piece of real estate as well. I look forward to making some good connections and building some positive relationships. Thanks in advance for your feedback!

Hi John, I am a Dallas resident and if there is some way we could help let us know.

I really like what you are teaching. I think a Dave Ramsey 0 based budget is a great idea and telling kids about the alternatives to just racking up student loans/Credit card debt/auto loans is important.

I Think one way to make real estate approachable for kids is to expose them to the idea of house hacking.

Please let me know if there is something we can do to help.

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All Forum Posts by: Bart H.

Bart H. has started 11 posts and replied 1129 times.

Post: Tenant asking for new windows

Post: Question: Rehab or Rent and move on?

Post: Question: Rehab or Rent and move on?

Post: Looking for properties in around Medical Center Area

Post: Dallas Hosts Interested in Growing Their Portfolio Base?

Post: Househacking through First Time HomeBuyer Program

Post: Airbnb Dallas Management Company and Success

Post: Enjoy my 20s or invest?

Post: General Plan for LLC and acquisition of rentals

Post: Hello from Dallas TX