All Forum Posts by: David Sray

Nothing particularly inspirational to add, but thought I'd throw in my own experience.

My parents have always been extremely supportive of what I do, but they are also very risk-averse, and always have been. Not understanding real estate, and the comparatively large sums of money involved, make my mom, especially, worry pretty strongly about what I'm doing. I find you just have to be able to push through the constant concerns and the well-meaning advice, and take the risk. Even if it's not at all overtly hostile, the subtle negative drag does tend to sap your enthusiasm at times. Just gotta remember the end goal and keep pushing through.

I see it mostly as fear of the unknown, really. First it was worry about keeping our old house as a rental when we moved into a new one. When that went well, and I decided to try to buy a duplex, it was worry about managing multiple tenants, and fixing it up, and ongoing repairs. I think there will always be items you have to deal with, and you just gotta accept that as the cost of doing business in order to build wealth for yourself. That's easier to do when you're the person who's making it happen then for those outside who don't quite understand why you're willing to take a risk.

My family, though skeptics, were very helpful when I was fixing up the property to rent, especially my dad. He was there laying floor, helping me fix plumbing, and putting in new toilets. I think they're slowly coming around, but you still gotta keep pushing through the doubts. It would be awesome if they would get as excited as I am about the prospect of finding additional units, but I've accepted that's not terribly likely, and that's ok. I know they'll be there if I need to get a new water heater in, repair the trim, or figure out landscaping.

Hello BP nation!  I've been looking into cash out refinancing on a duplex we recently purchased and think I simply don't have enough equity in it to pull anything worthwhile out. Trying to make sure I understand the process properly and hoping folks can help. 

Is the primary way people are able to pull a down payment back out quickly based mostly on the property appraising for significantly more after you've done some work on it and rented it out? 

If I purchased a property for $155k and, say, it's worth $165k now. I can refi at 70% of appraised value on the $165k, which would be $115.5k.  What I pull out in cash is then the difference between that $115.5k and the actual equity I have in it?

This is probably completely simple, but I'm still confusing myself.

I'm a Senior Software Project Manager for an IT monitoring company. Spent many years working in the automotive data industry before happening into real estate investing by keeping our our first house as a rental when we moved to another town. Picked up our first duplex in November and hoping to score something else this year. Absolutely convinced real estate is how I'll truly build my family's long-term wealth, even though my day job pays comparatively well. Achieving financial freedom before traditional retirement age sounds amazing, even if that still seems far off.

@Erik Drentlaw Appreciate the feedback, and I actually expect many people do just that.

After some digging around, I'm likely going to give join the TAA and using their lease a shot. I like the backing of some major organization behind the document in case something should go sideways.

Friends, I have a fairly simple question that I've been struggling to find a good answer on. Is there a way for someone who is not a realtor to legally use the TAR lease? Can a realtor you may know simply agree to provide you the lease to use for your property? Or would there need to be some sort of official form in which that person is acting as your agent, thus making the use of the TAR form legal?

Trying to find the best way to utilize a nicely buttoned-up lease in Texas.

Cheers,

David

Hi folks,

Anyone have someone or some company they recommend for doing siding work on a rental property? This would be pulling down horizontal siding on both sides of a garage of a duplex and replacing it with something else - vinyl, maybe?

Cheers,

David

I think there's going to be more opportunity out there. The neighborhood I'm buying in actually has a guy trying to take some chunk of undeveloped land on that street and break it up from one large single lot into 5 individual lots, which I'm assuming he will try to sell.  ACC built a small campus out there a few years ago and it sounds like things are starting to move out beyond Manor into that area.

No real exposure to Giddings. I've been trying to find a cash-flow unit all around Round Rock, Georgetown, Leader, Cedar Park, and even up in Harker Heights, and this is the best opportunity so far. Since I'm not as experienced, I tend to be pretty conservative in my numbers - so withholding a good chunk for cap ex, assuming taxes will go up, and rents may be a bit lower than people think. Perhaps that takes me out of the running many times cause I won't up the price in a market that's super competitive.

I have been looking around Georgetown & Round Rock a lot in the last couple months with not much luck. Actively telling most people I knew that I was looking to buy something, though, landed me on a duplex that wasn't listed on the market in Elgin, which I'll close on soon. Hope to square it away quickly and then start saving for the next property!

@David Ivy

I decided to pass as that, plus the enormous tree right behind the house scared me. Which has worked out fine because I happened into a duplex in Elgin that some folks I know were looking to unload. Looking to close on that in the next 9 days. I expect it to cashflow nicely after some repairs have been completed. Looking to square that away, get the second side rented, and then save for the next downpayment.

Built in 1988. It's one side stone and wooden siding on a slab.