All Forum Posts by: Collin Garbarino

In the neighborhoods that we've been looking at in Sugar Land and SW Houston, there doesn't seem to be much difference between ARV and a house that hasn't been updated. We've seen houses that haven't been updated in 40 years selling for about the same amount as a flip.

I recently talked to a flipper who was looking at a house that I was also looking at. The seller was willing to come down about $15K from what similar houses were going for, which left the price somewhere around $160K. We both agreed that the numbers wouldn't work for either a flip or a buy and hold.

Another investor recently told me that he's also frustrated. Even foreclosures in the Sugar Land area can get bid up too high for a flip to make sense.

A tax lawyer in Houston told me that the right to redemption is subject to a 50% penalty which is a nice return for the investor.

A tax lawyer in Houston told me that their right to redemption is subject to a 50% penalty which is a nice return for the investor.

You might want to check that the stated rent is actually what they've collected for a year. I recently saw a 4-plex in which the seller advertised full units at impressive rents. What the seller neglected to mention was that he'd given everyone a couple of months free rent as an incentive to sign the new leases, which means his yearly rents were lower than the number that he was giving.

 Property's in San Antonio.

I hadn't thought of it as putting "all eggs in one basket." I suppose I thought that having three close together might protect the investment because it would ensure a certain quality of resident.

It's good to get that perspective.

I have a not-quite-hypothetical situation that I'd like everyone's opinion on. The scenario is real, but I'm going to simplify it a bit.

Imagine that the house on one side of your current residence comes available. The owner agrees to sell it for $15K when it's worth $160K–170K.

Imagine that the house on the other side of your current residence comes available at the same time. That owner is looking for $150K–160K, and it is also worth $160K–170K.

Both houses would rent for about $1500 a month.

Of course you buy the first house. That's a no-brainer.

But what about the second house? It probably won't cashflow for the first few years, but the first house would float it. If you bought it, you'd own three 3BR/2BA in a row in a neighborhood that you expect to steadily appreciate.

So what do you do? Do you buy one house or two?

We're in Houston, and I get the sense that it's similar to what you're describing in Dallas. There's not a lot of MF available, and in the last five years, the retail price for SF has jumped quite a bit in the more desirable areas.

This law firm's website talks about the legality of home warranties and RESPA. It looks like it could be legal in certain circumstances, but mostly not. http://www.caldwellkearns.com/Articles/Home-Warranties-and-RESPA.shtml

Maybe RESPA only applies to lenders and title companies? I don't know. I'm just telling you what my realtor told me.