All Forum Posts by: Dan M.

First off, I want to say thank you to both of you for providing your knowledge and expertise to a new investor. Very much appreciated!

@David Thompson, I will keep everything you said in mind as I look for a potential first income-property. 

@JD Martin, I now smell what you're cooking. You really broke it down for me and I needed that, I really like your answer. I can now move forward to the next roadblock that is being broken down thanks to David Thompson's help (finding the right area). Two birds with one stone!

You both have provided some great info and I look forward to one day returning the favor.

After I read OP, I went to Zillow for my area for proof-of-concept. I then went to my county tax assessor page and plugged in the foreclosure address but came up with nothing. In fact, this specific property I chose to use from Zillow is listed as Land Trust. Does that mean an investor owns it and is protecting their assets? Sorry @Anthony Hardie, I tried.

Thank you gentlemen, I think I'm tracking now. Please let me know if I'm wrong... @JD Martin, your last sentence made it click. As an example: If I paid 200k for a duplex in today's market, each tenant is renting at $800 and I'm receiving $200 cash flow, houses could be valued at 150k after the market goes down. I was concerned other landlords could offer lower rents in the same area and still cash flow nicely since their mortgage loan would be lower and my vacancies would increase. You're saying houses become more affordable so there is less inventory thus leading to higher rents (supply & demand)? 

Your first sentence left me puzzled. Am I confusing cash flow and asset value, or that I didn't have a clear picture on supply & demand? I understand that equity and a hefty price-per-door provides a nice cushion, but I was basing my question on the fact I'm very new to evaluating a deal and all the actual costs for my market so all my cash flow numbers look low. This left me short-sighted and only thinking of the loans we acquire at each part of the market cycle and how that would affect those who landlord and bought at the highest peak and those who can offer lower rents to fill vacancy because they bought in the valley. (Analog signals).

@Russell Brazil, haha no way. San Antonio is definitely not Detroit! Toyota is only a sliver of what San Antonio has to offer.

$400 a door is amazing! I'm been running numbers on other MF in different areas throughout the city and I'm looking at maybe $400 total if even that. I'm guessing at most of my numbers since I don't have the experience such as rehab or repair costs. I'm also winging it on water and closing costs. Alright I'll admit, most of my numbers are educated guesses based on patterns of prices through research. I'm an analyst by trade so I have tons of excel sheets trying to figure these numbers out. Thanks for the information @David Thompson! Is your primary interest (besides cash flow) the school? I heard Elementary schools are the most important.

I just noticed there are 18,728 unanswered forum posts. I'm going to have to include keywords as if this is twitter: San Antonio, Texas, Bexar, rentals, income-property, cash flow, investor, duplex, triplex, fourplex, multifamily, multi-family.

In a market that has quickly appreciated over the past three years, I am looking to obtain cash flow properties. If I run the numbers on an income-property and the cash flow is acceptable as well as the long term ROI, some would look at the calculations and say that's a good deal. My concern is acquiring one of these properties at the price they're asking, and then the market calming down again and I now have a home that is worth less than I'm paying (negative cash flow).

I feel like the houses I'm seeing are not worth what everyone in town is asking. How do you determine the actual value of an income-property so you pay the best price for when the market goes back down?

Hi, I'm actually from/invest in Texas. I used to live in Maryland for six years but my job took me elsewhere about four years ago. I'm here in Maryland again for work until August and was hoping I could find some experienced multi-family investors to meet with. I am focused on 2-4 unit multi-family properties in TX but have "analysis paralysis." I basically want to see how you guys do business when choosing your sub-market/neighborhood and analyzing deals so when I head back to TX I can move forward. This week I'm going to find local REIAs to attend but if anyone who reads this doesn't attend those but would like to meet that would GREATLY help me. I'm full of book knowledge, podcasts, articles, blogs, forums and meetings with team members, but I'm the type that prefers OJT. 

Thanks @Nikolas Ferreira, that will be a huge help. Did you meet everyone at your local REIA or something similar?

@Naeem Kapasi, much appreciated! A home inspector AND an investor, you can't go wrong with your repair estimates with that combo. I was in your neck of the woods about six years ago (in Stockholm). I'm sure I'll make my way back to that area of the world one day.

@Marivel Fortenberry, I'll definitely take you up on that offer! Thank you for helping out a new investor and hopefully in the future when I'm situated I can return the kindness.

Hi @Jeremy VanDelinder, though I'm from Austin I always liked hanging out in Round Rock. Now I'm in Hawaii and we also have a limited number of REIAs (only two that I know of). Maybe you could consider starting one up yourself. All you would have to do is pick a place and time, then throw it on meetup.com.

"If you build it, they will come." - Field of Dreams

Thank you for the responses. @Robert Melcher, that's quite the coverage for central Texas, I'll will definitely reach out to you! The prices here are high so it is more difficult to jump into the market without investors from the start to help with a deal. 

@Michael Lee, once I'm at a point where I am able to do something in Texas I'll probably have some questions on what it should cost to repair a home. 

@Jasmine C., I'll connect with you!

We haven't yet started marketing here in Hawaii @Michael Borger but we have done some farming in a one area where there appears to be a lot of potential. Hopefully we will receive some calls once we send out our letters. Thank you for the title company, that is the exact information that will help get this started.

Again, thank you everyone for helping out a newb!