All Forum Posts by: Chris Quinn

I'm not sure if A&M still requires freshman to be on campus. Housing prices (SFH, MF, and apartments) all can vary depending on neighborhood class, size/location, time of year you're trying to fill it, quality of finish out, etc. However, College Station-Bryan, Texas, had the biggest share of renters nationally with 59.1 percent of the population being renters, there is no shortage of tenants. (That 59% does not include a majority of students, as most students do not update their address to B/CS.) Due to the influx of high-rise student housing near campus that opened in the past 24 months, some investors have seen a decline in rents due to higher inventory. Not all, but some. As both an investor and agent born and raised in B/CS, I feel confident in our market and will continue to pump my money in it!

@Ramsey Blankenship As a Bryan resident born and raised, I think Bryan is often overlooked and underrated. Purchasing power is typically higher than CS, which I why I concentrate my investing more on Bryan than College Station. 2% rule is basically non-existant, unless you want to buy a trailer. While the 1.2%+ can be found, you're typically going to get in the C and D areas. Our A and B class properties are closer to .8% rent-to-value.

Some landlords are struggling...They also don't make much effort to stand out from the crowd. Their place is dated, their photos/marketing are horrible, etc. I recently switched my 4bed townhome near Blinn in Bryan from long term college kids to short term tenants (AirBnB). This was less in part of the inventory, more because I HATE RENTING TO COLLEGE KIDS! Previously rented for $1600/mo, we are averaging over $3000 doing the short term route, at about 40% occupancy. Aggie football had a lot to do with it, but we also get higher paying weekend guests who come to town for various other reasons.  

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment.

Purchase price: $6,700
Cash invested: $93,000
Sale price: $139,000

New Construction - 2bed, 2bath, 897 sq ft. Set the highest $/ft ever seen in the neighborhood!

How did you finance this deal?

Hard Money/Self Finance

I’m happy to answer any specific questions as the come up. I used to do long term tenants, but recently switched to AirBnB. So far, so great! Many of our guests have come to B/CS for things other than football. This weekend is special olympics. Let me know if I can help. (Also a realtor!)

 Hey Josh, I’m a local realtor who has help many BiggerPockets investors buy in B/CS. I’d be happy to chat with you and see if I may be a good fit. Feel free to shoot me a message. BP references available. 

Great job on the flip.Tastefully improved and in a fantastic neighborhood! GL with the sale.

Yes, conventional loan, owner occupied. Buyer wanted to put 5% down, so we had to get SFH status.

After switching lenders, a new appraiser came and he did classify it a Single Family Residence!!! He did note accessory dwelling unit. We were able to fill him in on what our argument was as both the buyer and seller agreed this should be SFH with accessory units. Ultimately, he gave us everything we wanted. My buyers even had some built in equity! Total of 10 weeks in escrow, but we got it done.

I had an investor client recently who wanted a property to house hack. It was a SFH where the attic had been converted to a separate unit (lets call it unit B), accessible only from the outside of the home. Property also had a detached "garage" with garage apartment above (unit C) and what was once the garage below was converted in to a 4th unit (unit D). One of the main house bedrooms had its own entrance/exit and was previously used to as a single room Airbnb (unit E). Needless to say there was a lot going on in this property.

We had to go through two different lenders AND appraisers to make the deal happen all while no modifications to the property were completed. For us it was just finding the right appraiser to understand our point of view. 

Kitchens and bathrooms generally get you the best return on your money (short of adding square footage). You have things like cosmetic updates (counters, fixtures, drawer pulls), Adding value and generating good airbnb income are not the same. For the short term model, you want to make the place feel as at home as possible. All of the little things that you take for granted when going out of town. I couldn't list them all if I tried, but do some research on best accommodations to offer, then figure out a budget. As with remodel, you could spend money until you run out, that's why a budget is key. My wife and I are actually switching from long term rentals to short, so we've definitely been doing our research. We found someone selling essentially a "bnb in a box" We literally bought just about everything you would need to furnish an airbnb, roughly 6 months old (barely used), high end Austin stuff. Seller recently sold her airbnb, posted some items and we offered to just buy it all!

• Furniture (King bed, queen bed, futon, end table, kitchen table w/ chairs, patio furniture)
• Decor (vases, wall decor, rugs, lamps, art)
• Amenities (coffeemaker with mugs and fixin's, silverware, plate/cups/bowls, cleaning products/tools, new towels, etc)

I could list so many more. But yes...the concept works. Game days ask more. And if someone will pay enough for the whole place, enjoy a weekend out of town on them! Hope it works out for you. Let me know if I can be any help.