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All Forum Posts by: Cristian Vences

Cristian Vences has started 4 posts and replied 23 times.

Post: New Investor In Houston Area

Cristian VencesPosted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Posts 23
  • Votes 19

Hey Zach and Houston BP,
I also graduated with an Electrical Engineering degree. I work in the cyber security industry so I am actually able to work from home. Unfortunately I don't get to do a lot of circuit design as I would have liked but the WFH life is not beatable.

As for investing, I would highly consider buying a property you wouldn't mind living in. HEB is a very popular and nice grocery store. Maybe look for properties that are within 15 minutes of driving. Theres deals everywhere. The financial barrier would certainly be lower in East Houston. 

I hear Conroe Texas is a nice emerging market. Just some thoughts.

But welcome !

Post: Trying to buy the duplex Nextdoor to me!

Cristian VencesPosted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Posts 23
  • Votes 19

@Jesus Roman Good points. I will keep touching base. Maybe contract out the fence job to be done and asking him to pay me back. Might try to manage his property who knows. Need to look into property management laws here in Texas.

As for an update. They recently boarded up the windows and doors. Got the contractors card so now I know another handy man.

Any thoughts on a seller finance deal I can set up with this guy and maybe how to pitch it. Today I listened to podcast #77 with Michael Quarles. He basically started his real estate journey by just convincing people to give him money as a 20 year old! 

Post: Trying to buy the duplex Nextdoor to me!

Cristian VencesPosted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Posts 23
  • Votes 19

@Joshua Janus I guess my issue here isn't money to get the deal done but how to convince the seller who lives in California to sell to me. He mentioned he does has a partner in the deal but they both are out of state. 

Post: Discount On Listing Fees

Cristian VencesPosted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Posts 23
  • Votes 19

My response to this as an agent would be yeah sure ! As an agent I have to be flexible for many different clients. Typical owner occupied sellers want the agent there at every step handling every obstacle and I work my but off for 3% percent. Now I do work with absentee owners who want discounts because their home is empty and what not. What I usually offer them is a discounted commission but I am doing less work for them. I won't go out of my way to market their property and won't necessarily pick up their calls right away. Just as in any business. A business owner will probably spend more time on the more rewarding projects. For a buddy of mine I am doing his flip for 2% but all I'm really doing is listing it on the MLS. I am going to have him pay for the professional photos (works for him he gets the deduction) and if he wants to send post cards to the neighbors and make a website that's on him. The value he gets from the 2% is MLS entry plus transaction coordination. But we are still doing a 4.5% in total because we don't want buyers agent too discouraged to show the property (buyers agent gets 2.5%). I'm interested to see what other agents have to say on this matter as well.

Post: Trying to buy the duplex Nextdoor to me!

Cristian VencesPosted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Posts 23
  • Votes 19

Hey BP community!

Today I had to call the cops on some teenagers who were presumably skipping school and breaking into the vacant duplex next door. 

Quick reminder. I am house hacking a duplex at the moment and I moved in March 2021. 

The duplex next door has been vacant since February of 2021 when Texas had the freeze and grid shut down. That resulted in pipes busting and then vacancy. 

Last year I was confused for a while about it. Then I saw some guy pull up and check the mail. And I asked him what the deal was and he explained the pipes bursting situation and that he was the previous tenant.

Sometime later. I am in the market to get deal flow so went ahead and skip traced to find the owners number. I give him a call.

“No I’m not interested. Im going to rent it and keep my cash flow”

I hang up and bow my head in despair

Months later duplex is still vacant. I see contractors in and out but the pace is so slow. They finally put one side up for rent and I use my agent privilege to go check it out. It was nice! But for some reason the second unit also had a lock box on it with the same code. So I let myself in. That unit was still in shambles (well not really. Probably just a flooring and drywall rehab with potentially some new appliances). 

A month goes by and no tenant moves in. The rental listing is withdrawn. So I call him up and said hey how’s it going and he mentioned that he had got a new property manager and they are working on getting it rented. I ask him if he’s willing to do seller financing or anything but he’s still not interested. Well okay I’m still available if you need anything. I’m in the area and have contacts to get jobs done. Hang up. 

Now a month or two goes by and school has started up again. I begin to see some teenagers break into his property. I call him to let him know. He tells me to call the police which I did. But they show up to late. They fled before they were caught. This goes on a month and sometimes they break in without my knowledge and what not.

Then one day I see two guys going in the property. I assumed they were contractors. I asked them what was up. And they said they were estimating the job repairs. Well okay cool. They let me walk in and wow these teenagers completely wrecked this place. They broke the appliances cabinets many holes in walls. Busted down door. Broken fence and gate.

Finally today I saw some teenagers in the property. I called the police and they pulled in swat style and arrested 4 teenagers. I saw the action through my front window. I was glad no one was hurt.

I texted the owner what had happened and he said “thanks”. 

Now that’s the story but I really want his duplex. I don’t have any capital of my own to deploy but good ol bank of mom can come in handy.

The duplex ARV would be roughly 185k and with one unit done and the other smashed. I imagine the repairs would be less than 20k. He just got a new roof installed.

What can I do to get this guy to sell me his duplex. My ideal strategy would be to BRRRR this.
0.7 x 185k = 130k

130k - 20k = 110k

Should I say. Let’s just do like a private lender deal where I give you 20k upfront and pay interest only payments for 6 months until I can refinance and pay him a total of 100k plus the interest?

Let me know your thoughts and suggestions. Stay healthy friends !!


-Cristian 

Post: Investor Friendly Agent Houston

Cristian VencesPosted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Posts 23
  • Votes 19

Hey BP community,

I listened to podcast 563 with Sarah Weaver and Rob Abasolo and it certainly gave me some clarity on how I should structure my relationships with my investor clients. As an agent, I see all people who are interested in buying and/or selling real estate as a lead. A hot lead is someone trying to do that within 30 days. At first thought you may think I should chase an investor who wants to purchase a property within in a week but the payout to effort ratio may not be favorable at all! When I get hot leads, even within the retail space, I will refer out a hot lead that doesn't meet my client requirements. I don't expect anything in return and I even provide free support/advise via text and calls. I don't like feeling pressured when working and I'm sure most people would agree.

Investor clients should give me a call to approach me. I'm a very local person and love doing phone prospecting from my one and only phone. It feels very personable. The next thing would be having a crystal clear criteria for the property you are seeking as explained in the podcast. Lastly, follow up with me. 

In terms of an official agreement, I think it should be non-established prior to making an offer. i.e. I have a docusign template we are both ready to sign as soon as you need to make an offer through me. In the agreement we can have a special provision claiming I am only representing you during the duration of this sale and non-other.

All in all, the podcast for sure cleared somethings for me. I am sure the more experience I gain the better I will be at dealing with investors. I do plan on starting a system for reaching out to distressed property leads so I am sure I will be working with investors more in the future.

Please comment your thoughts and questions!

Post: Starting out - Houston Househack

Cristian VencesPosted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Posts 23
  • Votes 19

@Tyson Sadler MLS. I've developed methods of sorting the listings and what not that make deals pop out. There's a few of them at a time.

Post: Starting out - Houston Househack

Cristian VencesPosted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Posts 23
  • Votes 19

@Luke Trovinger yes definitely!

@Eric James 10k at the end of each year after this one then 7k the year after

Post: Starting out - Houston Househack

Cristian VencesPosted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Posts 23
  • Votes 19

Duplex in NW Houston

$185,000 - Purchase Price

$37,000 - Down payment borrowed from Bank of Mom (0% interest)

$5,000 - Out of pocket renovations

$1350 - PITI payment

$1050 - Monthly rent (the other side)

$800 - New living costs

Post: Searching for Multifamily Properties

Cristian VencesPosted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Posts 23
  • Votes 19

I have a 106 unit condo bundle here in Houston.
$878/month per unit
10K EMD
$8,200,000