All Forum Posts by: Christopher Ward

I am in need of a patient and experienced agent in the north Austin/ Round Rock/ Pflugerville area. 

I'm in the market for a home in the price range of about 150k to a hard cap of 205-210k. Looking for an agent who can regularly send me (and eventually show) great MLS and off market deals. Very comfortable at the moment so I don't NEED to rush into a bad deal. Finding a great buy is extremely important to me and I have been waiting for Summer's high prices and demand to go back down a little before I really start looking. Again though there is no rush on finding a place immediately, I want to stress that I have plenty of time and patience and want to find a really good deal on a place.

Looking for someone who is familiar with and very knowledgable of this market and its trends. Open to duplexes (again only if it is a really good deal) as I know there are some in this area. Anyone who is interested please send me a message and request or respond to this post. 

Thank you!

Thanks for the info guys. I will message you Dan.

Finally started my housing search after a lot of research but haven't had any luck finding an agent that is right for me. I know everyone in the Austin market is preaching "buy for appreciation! Buy for appreciation!" But I have read and feel that that is almost like gambling. Now if all the signs point to it appreciating in the future I am not opposed to that but want to make sure there is a backup plan with the cash flow and a plan to get out of the deal in a few years if things aren't going as planned. That's where my great new agent would come in!! 

Please feel free to post here or message/add me if you are an agent that would like to hear more about my situation/plans and see if we would be a correct fit for each other.

Thanks!

Amazing! Especially for a first time. I'm curious, were you involved in the rehabbing or did you contract that out?

Welcome to the community!!

Do you currently have any multi families listed in the North Austin/Pflugerville/RR area?

Sorry for the delayed response guys, have been neglecting my real estate research and progress for some personal reasons. However thank you for the responses and helpful opinions and questions.

I have not found a place yet but have reconsidered my plan and have now restricted my first purchase to be a local duplex. The turnkey places that I was referring to would definitely be out of town, as the cash flow in Austin is extremely tough to find with all the inflated home prices here. But if I found a good area where the turnkey places were cash flowing high and appreciating decently as well as run by a good management company then I would definitely be inclined to buy several all in that market.

So like many other starry eyed first time investors I have read and heard about I am looking to make my first real estate investment into a fourplex in which I will live in 1 unit and rent out the other 3. I am locked into my lease at my apartment for 8 more months so that will not be happening anytime in the immediate future but I am fairly certain that is the route I want to go. In the meantime however I have been hearing quite a bit about out of state, single family, turn-key rentals and have been wanting to maybe give these a try, as it is a much smaller investment and can get me started quicker. I know most of the pro's but only some of the cons to these turn key properties so I need to research this a little more.

My question is which one I should be focused on more? The turnkey properties since I can invest and get started with them now? Or the fourplex since it is going to be a much bigger and more important investment to my portfolio starting off? From a buying and leverage standpoint which one would benefit me more to buying first? I think if I purchase a cheaper turnkey property or 2 I may not look as lend-worthy (if that's a word lol) to banks and may get stuck with higher rates or be more likely to be denied if I already have a large loan or 2. Any and all opinions welcome!!

Thanks!

Hello everyone!!

My name is Christopher Ward and I am a 27 year old mailman from Austin, TX. I am brand new to the BP forums, but I am excited to explore them and see all the helpful tools and insights that I know they have to offer. I have just recently been introduced to the prospect of being a real estate investor but I'm not sure if I have ever been more interested in something in my entire life!!

In stumbling through the several popular real estate investing podcasts I, of course, came across BP's and over the last few weeks have listened to just about every episode Josh and Brandon have been a part of! I love how they cover and explore almost every part of real estate possible and explain everything not only at a high level but break things down to the most basic levels to make things fully comprehendible to even the newest listeners.

Personally I am wanting to jump into the real estate investing world for several reasons.

1. I have a decent amount of savings just sitting around collecting dust and a few pennies a year in a savings account and thanks to these podcasts I realize now just how foolish I am to have been letting that happen for the last several years. 

2. Because I don't make enough money at my full time job to support the lifestyle and comfortability that I want to have later in life.

3. I am working for money not having money working for me!! (thanks to the rich dad series for this one) 

4. Not to toot my own horn, but I have always felt that I am overqualified and much too skilled to be doing what I do and that I would really be letting not only myself but my family down if I let myself get trapped settling for the rest of my life. I have been waiting for an opportunity to arise that I can put forth some real effort in to and be successful in and I am positive that this is it!!

My ultimate goal in real estate investing is to become financially free. I want to do that by investing and purchasing 4-10 properties in the next 5 years using a lot of leverage as I have learned is the best way for someone like me to do it. I would like to purchase a fourplex or duplex somewhere in my hometown with a FHA loan where I would live in 1 unit and rent out the rest in the next 6 months. I am interested in generating substantial positive cash flow from the properties I will be investing in and for the most part I do not think my home market will be the most ideal place for that so I will be looking to venture out for the majority of these investments.

As I said I am extremely excited to be here, to learn and grow as an investor, and to get started! Sorry my intro got a little long winded but a big thank you to the guys from BP for giving us this platform to learn and connect on!