All Forum Posts by: David Edgerton

I would say this is correct. Whoever they bought the house from, they had to buy it at a higher price since we are in such a huge seller's market. Honestly, if you do a HML, and you are out of pocket $13k plus two closing costs, interest and fees, you are doing pretty good for this market. Caution needs to be places on the repairs cost, however. Due diligence on verifying the rehab costs and ARV is always recommended.

The great thing about Keller Williams is that each agent is an owner of the business! If I can recruit agents to work for KW, and they can become productive and make money for the brokerage, I would get paid based on the Profit Sharing plan of the brokerage. http://www.kw.com/kw/keller-williams-careers.html and http://images.kw.com/kw/user_uploads/US-profit%20share%20and%20growth%20share%20white%20paper.pdf

Any MF investment is driven by cap rates. And good ways to get a low cap rates is to have high rents and make it a nice place to live, with full occupancy. There is currently a ton of apartments being built in the loop. But, most new office building projects are being built/proposed in the Energy Corridor, off I-10 outside the Beltway to Fry Rd.

Thank you so much for sharing! I will be starting a direct mail campaign very soon as well, and I think the key is to send out marketing on a consistent basis to the same people so they begin to know who you are. A "one and done" campaign just won't work.

Hi Tom, HAR.com (the MLS for Houston) has an agent search tool. From the home page, click on the top bar "find a Realtor" then click "find a member." From there, you can put in zip codes, and filter by designations, customer feedback, and languages. You can find me by searching for my name on this site, as I am a Realtor. I currently work in the Galleria area. Please send me a message through HAR if you like to schedule a meeting at my office this week. Thanks.

Anil, before I forget, I would say the best chance of success for a flip in Houston are for an initial sales price of $200-350k, and once completed, are sold in the $400k-$600k range. The Energy Corridor, Memorial, Briar Forest, City Center area is a perfect place to start looking. My contact information is on the HAR website if you'd like to find me and set up a meeting at my office next week. Thanks.

Hi Anil. Deals are found on any MLS database throughout the country by investors every single day. HAR (Houston Association of Realtors) just happens to be the #1 Local MLS in the country, which is why hardly anyone in Houston uses Zillow or Trulia. What defines an investment deal? Well, that's up to you. The idea for any seller when placing their home on the MLS is to get a "market price." In Houston, there is less than 3 months of inventory available, so demand for ANYTHING is at an all time high. The Pro's are able to buy a deal at a higher price than a Noob because they have the best contractors and access to the cheapest capital, and can squeeze more $$$ when completed.

I also completed my salesperson licensing courses online through Champions School of Real Estate. Maybe not the cheapest, but it worked out well.

Being from Houston myself, there are REI resources out there that you can utilize to get into this business. For access to the MLS (not HAR), I would recommend signing up with Real Acquisitions, which basically is the closest thing you can get to having access to the MLS without being a Realtor. Then you'll want to consider joining local REI investment clubs like Rich Club or Lifestyles Unlimited. Then you will want to form strong relationships with lenders that can do loans, hard money loans, conventional loans. You'll also want to create a network of contractors. You'll also need to consider how you'll screen and manage your tenants. Practice your numbers on potential deals on the spreadsheets that are provided, it's a numbers game. When it comes to a Realtor, you'll have the best success bringing the deals you find to them unless they specialize in working with investors and these Realtors have an e-blast marketing specifically for investment properties. These types of Realtors look through the MLS themselves, and E-blast potential deals to their investor customers, and if someone is interested they will use the agent as the buyers agent. There are some RE brokerage companies like New West and Net Worth that sell properties directly to investors that are not listed on the MLS. I'm not endorsing any company or group I mentioned(I don't work for them) and I am an active licensed Realtor and investor here in Houston. Continue to read the boards and listen to the podcasts here on BP is the best place to start. Knowledge is the key to success.

realacquisitions.com I have not signed up for this service yet,(only in limited markets in Texas) but have know about this company for nearly a year. Good luck!