All Forum Posts by: David Thompson

Experienced apt owners will say the sweet spot for unit mix is about 70% 2 bedrooms.  Turnover / makeup costs for suites and one bedrooms is the drawback.  

Welcome Julian.  One thought I had after reading your post is did you put a lot of thought into "why" you want to achieve these goals before you went into detailed planning mode?  Also, have you talked to experts in these areas to ensure before you get very specific and go long here, that this is the right path that fits your temperament, what are the risks, opportunities and trends in this particular industry / niche?  What are you good at doing and what are you not/ what do you like / don't like to do?  I can speak for myself that I got a degree in financial planning then found out I absolutely hated sales.  I spent too little time talking to anyone in the industry to really understand the key essentials for success.   

People spend a lot of time w/details, planning and climbing the ladder and then find out later they are climbing up the wrong tree.  You spent no doubt a lot of time getting your education in engineering, you have a decent paying job and now you may be thinking of tossing that out the window because your job currently is not challenging?  So, you spent a lot of time going up the wrong tree once or have spent maybe too little time thinking about other companies that could use your skill set and challenge you.  This is not unique and many have experienced this, but just stating the fact that you may want to really do more research on the why and not just because you want to move "away" from something more importantly than rather "going to" something for the right reason and the sole reason shouldn't be because I can make more money.

Real estate is a great field and one that you can do on the side while you have a good start to a paying career. You will need that W2 when you apply for loans to purchase investments property. If REI is your passion, go for it, but don't think it has to be a full time (give up my career) thing to have a lot of success. Mine BP, engage, learn and share. Go to local meetups where you end up, meet people in various niches, learn. Wish you the best.

Jacob,

Couple thoughts.  One, you are normal.  Two, its cool that you are starting young and thinking about a plan and how to get there already.  I've struggled w/that in the past and talking to a lot of RE investors, seems like a common theme.  Real estate is a great vehicle and there are a lot of ways to be successful in it which is even more fascinating and probably enhances this "too many choices" problem. 

May I suggest a couple things to help sort out. 1) Read some books on various niches (BP has several) and pros/cons to each. Does anything seem more like you personality wise and also what time, energy, money reqrs are needed ? Go to several different local REI meetups (non sales kind) in your area and check out different niches. Meet a few interesting / experienced people at each one of these events and setup 1x1 coffee chats w/them. Talk to them about their niche and what they are doing...also discuss your goals and objectives. Determine in advance of these meetings if you can / willing to give something of value in time, money, expertise, connections to them to help them grow their business in exchange for learning from them, profiting w/them (JV), etc. Once you find a niche / partner / mentor...then study to become an expert on that niche. Don't stress about marrying this niche for life, but do stay w/one thing to get really good before adding another niche to your arsenal.

Welcome James. Yes, congrats on starting at a young age. When I was younger I too tried many things. I believe that can be a problem w so much time and options, caution thrown to the wind. I've been down the stock path running an investment club, spent $20k to learn options trading, I invested in restaurants, breweries and started some businesses along the way. I can only say by experience had I chosen REI, the best vehicle for making money at your age and just focused on that I would have been financially free a lot earlier. I'm for college but get cracking on real estate and stay w it. Distractions are many when young, money is often an inhibitor but don't let it deter you. BP is a great place to learn. Go for it!

Todd....yes, I have some things you can look at.  Let me send you a PM w/more details to stay in line w/BP protocol.

Tara,

My advice would be to clarify your goals and then check out some local meetup groups in Austin that focus on these opportunities.  There is a fix / flip meetup group, multi-family, all-purpose, etc.  If you are not sure, one of the more popular ones is the Thur lunch (weekly) meetup at Big Daddys (I-183 / Burnett) which is all purpose.  I started there myself, found that I liked multi-family focus so now go to a separate meetup group.  Its great to meet like minded investors in your focus area, then I try to meet a few folks at each meeting, setup 1x1 coffee chats w/them outside the main meeting.  I have found some great partners, teachers and friends thru these meetups.   They are indespensible in getting started.  

Also, BP connections have been awesome as well w/the key word alerts focused on your area of interest (Austin, flipping, etc).  You can build a whole team (thru connections / colleagues)  helping you meet your goals in no time.  You will also find you can help them which I find the most rewarding experiences as well.  Let me know if I can help in anyway.  Ironically, having a coffee chat w/Alan Lane (above) for the first time next week.  Alan saw my profile on BP, sent me an PM and can already see areas of interest we share.  BP continues to be an amazing forum.

San Antonio is a better cash flow market than Austin.  I can't read enough good things about both cities but for steadier cash flow w/lower entry points I'd steer folks to SA.  Houston, caution short term w/oil.  

Glad to see my recommendation is working out for you Joel.  Re: fourplexes, are these some of the new developments w/Vistancia or another opportunity you uncovered?  I know its still quite unusual to find new construction fourplexes here.  Duplexes yes (Value and Vistancia) but not fourplexes. Hard for these guys to get the zoning I understand.

All, 

STR = Short Term Rentals.

Hey Q, we met yesterday at the MF meetup down by Ables in Austin.  Let's catchup.  Growing my investor list as I work to find apartment deals in Aus and SA.  As mentioned, I re-position (look for value add plays) with 18mos - 5 yr timeframes.  Target 100 units and up.  Can take up to 20 - 30 investors to take these down.  Like to understand your goals and focus as well to see how we can help each other.

Hi Joe,

Give me a shout for a coffee / chat when you get to Austin.  Can also give you some meetup groups you may want to attend.  I'm investing in both Austin and San Antonio and favor new construction and rehab in selected areas so we have some common ground.  FYI - Austin is doing fine (oil not impacting).  High Tech explosion has been here a while, it just continues to grow.  I came here to work for Dell in 1997 and it was known as Silicon Hills back then.  It's just more discovered and known than ever before.  It's getting pricey downtown (almost insane in some aspects) but job growth, diversity of industry and population growth is strong w/not much signs of letup yet.