All Forum Posts by: Chris Kersey

Hey Juan, 

Electrician is being lazy. 

AC guy is likely waiting on condenser pad to be poured- Go buy a prefab one and have him instal. 

Water tap requests need to be put in as soon as the project starts, I learned this the hard way. Borrow water from you neighbor, throw them a $50-100 so you can get the flatwork poured. 

The duplex is looking good. Keep up the good work! 

I am a realtor, investor and developer in central Hosuton, reach out with any other questions. 

- Chris Kersey 

Hey Adam, 

Echoing what most have said, great decision to think long term about your future wealth goal. 

I would recommend thinking about your specific long term goal with all of this. Sure you can stack up 20+ units over X amount of time, but does this fit your long term plan and what you want to be doing? 

As an example: I was personally starting on the path of stacking as many units as possible. But when I really sat down to think about the logistics of this and the returns, I've pivoted to a smaller number of total units but much higher quality/higher appreciating units in better areas. I also shifted to ground up development and building my own rental units to capture the forced appreciation I create when building new. By focussing on high quality areas/houses and building my own, I'm able to greatly lower the risk of market shifts, I collectively put much less than 20% down, I have a new product and I can use my money more efficiently and increase its velocity. 

I am a real estate agent, investor and developer in Central Houston. Feel free to message me with any additional questions as you start on your journey.

- Chris Kersey 

Not to stop the triplex dreams here but a traditional connected triplex in Houston is subject to the commercial building code (fire suppression systems and such). A duplex is the biggest you can build with out getting into a different building code. 

You can however do a multi-unit residential (MUR) development in Houston in certain areas. This allows you to build a single family up front and a duplex in the back of the property, effectively creating a triplex with out all the extra building codes. Check into MUR's. 

The land purchase will be one of the biggest tasks of your project. Buying the land right (at a good price) will determine the end result of cash flow (if building the home to keep) especially as you factor in Holding costs and Builder fees. 

I'm a builder/developer, Agent and investor in central Houston. Reach out with any other specific questions. 

- Chris Kersey 

While the build cost will cost more in a flood zone in Harris county, $250/ft for an investment build is absurd.

Also you need differentiate your construction costs (hard cost) vs the development costs (soft costs).

For comparison, I just completed two new build duplexes in a flood sone in central Houston using a builder for these and my Hard + Soft costs were $149/ft. the only additional cost to factor in was the land.

Keep in mind these are duplexes so double kitchens, appliances, hvacs ect.... greater cost than a single family.

While the build cost will cost more in a flood zone in Harris county, $250/ft for an investment build is absurd. 

Also you need differentiate your construction costs (hard cost) vs the development costs (soft costs). 

For comparison, I just completed two new build duplexes in a flood sone in central Houston using a builder for these and my Hard + Soft costs were $149/ft. the only additional cost to factor in was the land. 

Keep in mind these are duplexes so double kitchens, appliances, hvacs ect.... greater cost than a single family. 

Depends on if you are hiring a builder to build or if you are the builder yourself. 

Hard construction costs alone with out using a GC vary widely but $125/ft is a good estimate. Not including all soft costs. 

Welcome @Reno Philip,

Great idea to start slower and get your bearings before jumping all in. I learned a ton of valuable info from my first rental and it gave me even more confidence to turn things up. 

Out of your list, I suggest the Northern and Western cities you listed (Conroe, Montgomery, and Katy). I prefer to stay further from the coast and hopefully further from major storm/flooding events (potentially lower insurance costs).  Spring and Tomball are a great market to check out as well. I recently helped a first time investor by a great home up near Benders Landing in Spring for their first rental. 

I am a Real Estate agent, investor and developer in central Houston, feel free to reach out with any questions. 

- Chris Kersey 

Hey @Alex Woolums, 

Welcome back to TX. What kind of investing are you looking into? 

Do you do any residential electrician work here in TX?

Hey Salim, 

Congrats on retirement. I jumped right into new construction as well, not doing any flips first. You are headed in the right direction by finding someone already doing what you want to do to learn from. Honestly, it is a lot of work, and there are some big pitfalls you want to avoid, but its not rocket science. 

I am a local Central Houston agent, investor and developer. Pm me for any specific questions. 

- Chris Kersey 

Hey @Nia Booker,

Great call on house hacking a duplex here in Houston. I've seen some good deals pop up lately as builders have been trying to sell inventory that has been sitting. 

I'm a Houston agent, investor and developer, I'm happy to connect and help any any questions that you have about specific markets and builds. 

- Chris Kersey