All Forum Posts by: Casey S.

I wouldnt be willing to drop below rent being 1% of sales price. I manage myself and do about 75% of the maintenace and repairs myself. I understand that I could lose money on the cash flow end of things on some months but thought the long term capital gain could be worth it. In my market there are no nicer neighborhoods where you can cash flow after all cost considered. Most of the houses in nice neighborhoods are going to rent for about .8-.85% of sales price making them terrible rentals. There are cash flowing properties but they are in neighborhoods that may or may not do well for long term capital appreciation. I currently own a few of those. I plan to work my salaried job for about 10 more years so immediate profit isnt an absolute must.

Anybody do it? Recently I have been seeing more foreclosures come on the market in my area in the middle upper/upper class hoods. These are houses that are less than five years old, granite counters/ crown molding/pretty much nice everything. There is one listed now for $179,000 that should be selling for $210,000 as a regular listing. It would likely rent around $1700. My thought was that if I could break even on rent (I borrow my down payments personally at 15 years and 6%) while paying one of those off in 15 years I could do some serious long term capital building. Probably much faster than the cash flowing middle or lower class properties that a lot of us focus on. I have cash flow from other properties that could cover unexpected cost/repairs.

Down sides- repairs could be costly due to size and type of house, not getting a renter could get expensive quick. Not having cash flow could reduce money into my pocket in the event that something needed to be repaired.

Upsides- Starting out with equity(always a must). Owning a property in a top end nieghborhood that should have steady long term appreciation. Repairs should be minimal on a house that is less than five years old. Drama should be minimal due to who you are renting to and who the neighbors are. Tenants may stay longer due to more stable lives(could just be reaching on this one).

This is just an early thought and some serious market analysis would have to be done before anything else.

Anybody have thoughts on the subject?

Good idea. Ill use their info but they wont be their exact form. Simple enough. Thanks!

Can I get in trouble for using the Texas Assoc of Realtor forms for rental applicants if I am not a realtor?

Limited, but here is my experience. Both of these in the past three months.

VA-BoA
list- 51,000
bid- 53,500
outbid and sold at- 55,900
Days on market was less than 5
Home was really under priced

Same neighborhood-same condition-larger house

HUD
list- 85,000 for approx a month
reduced to- 65,000
waited a few weeks for investor period and
offered 61,100 on first day of investor period and offer accepted

Comps in good shape are selling for $85k-$90k

I like the way you think.

For those of you using a buyers agent do you find that they get tired of presenting offers that they know will likely not work? I have a great agent I have been working with and she is a hard worker. Ive gotten some decent deals by being fast on the trigger when something pops up. The competition is feirce in my area when something hits the MLS at a good price. Im thinking their could be more opportunity by throwing low ball offers at propertys that arent priced the best but I dont know how she will take the extra demand. How much actual work is it for them to submit offers on these things?

Tampa Bay area. Used to live there. I dont know the current market but a lot of area is land locked so long term should push up. Sexual energy is definately high.

Anyone have any experience installing it on an uneven slab that has settled some?

If I had the cash I would be looking at the semi-questionable areas of the Texas coast.

Sargent, TX has made a huge transformation in the past 10 years and I would expect other similar areas to do the same at some point.

Jon, let me see what answers I can give here.

No the bank hasnt promised the refi. I thought the rule was 6 months on an investment in Texas but maybe it is a year. The refi would likley be with another 3rd party lendor. I am currently in the process of trying to close with a mortgage lendor for a fixed 15 year at 4.625 but the closing cost are pretty dang high and they keep coming up with one situation after another and I am afraid things may not work out. Now they are saying they cant take the HUD appraisal and want me to pay for another one pushing their closing cost even higher. I am considering going with a local bank as a back up to my current problem. The fact that the banks closing cost is so much lower is pretty nice but the 6.25% interest from the bank would eat into my monthly profit compared to the 4.625% that I could get from the mortgage company. Add in the fact that the loan from the local bank will reset rate every five years and the banks loan has potential long term risk. It looks great for getting the purchase done but bad for longterm buy and hold. I thought the fact that the property will have a decent amount of equity in it would allow for an exit strategy that would work good longterm but maybe the closing cost to do the cash-out refi would blow that option.

Im stuck at work on a saturday and trying to do some game planning but obviously any lendor that could answer my questions is most likely out playing golf.

It sounds like I may need to try my best to make the fixed 4.625 for 15 with the original mortgage company work.