All Forum Posts by: Dennis Rodriguez

@Denise Mayo-Walley check your email. I sent you a property that you might be interested in.

@Deidra Hubenak welcome to the great BP forum. May I ask, where are you finding your properties? Do have a Realtor working with you or are you marketing to find the deals? Are you following any of the general "rental rules" to make your numbers work? You can PM me if you feel uncomfortable posting out in public.

There's a lot to learn here at BP but you seem to be in the right track already.

Happy investing.

I agree with @Sam Craven maybe you got to start looking at other parts of town. Its going to be very difficult to satisfy the rental "rules" in the Katy-Sugarland-Cypress area of town.

For example, last week I visited a 3/2 property in Katy ISD area listed on the MLS for $87,000. The ARV in the area is $110K.

The house needs a complete overhaul ($30-$40K of work) and in a matter of hours the Realtor got multiple offers at over asking price.

I ask myself, who in their right mind is buying such properties. I ran the numbers and to consider it a deal you would have to get it at 50K-55K to even consider it with the amount of work the house requires.

@Denise Mayo-Walley the problem with the West Houston area, is that most properties are fairly new (20-25 years old), generally in good livable condition and hence selling at market price. Our taxes here in the Houston area are very high and that tends to kill the 50% rule.

You have to buy really cheap in order to satisfy the "rules" and the only way you are going to buy cheap is with direct marketing to distress properties and owners or using a wholesaler. I spend all day on the MLS looking for the next deal but there's nothing out there. I have a search setup with the parameters that you gave me and nothing comes up.

We are in a sellers market and sellers are getting multiple offers in a matter of minutes after listing. If I find something I'll let you know but you might want to start taking to wholesalers and prepare yourself to do a lot of rehab work in order to get the 50% or 2% rules.

Also be aware that some investors buy rental properties that don't cashflow at all and are only interested in future appraisal and building equity by having someone else pay down the mortgage. It is a very risky strategy but I see it a lot in this part of town. Don't assume that every rental out there is cashflowing.

Dennis

@Steve K those are monthly taxes ($2,712/yr) which seem very low but not impossible in some areas around town.

@Shequann Burrwell I'm a Realtor here in Houston. If you send me the address I Can run the comps. How much are you asking for the deal? I have cash buyers lined up to get this done. Send me a PM.

That's an awesome video @Erica Villarreal

I'm ready to see the next one. Hehehe. Great job from White Picket Realty.

@Michael O'Byrne welcome to BP. As far as local REI clubs all I can say is that I am a member of RICH Club (RealEstate Investors Club of Houston) and so far it has been great. I try to attend to the Monday meetings and I've met a lot of people and found advice from everyone there. I don't have anything to compare it to but it works for me.

Let me know if you need more info and I am a Realtor so consider me part of your network whenever you need help.

Good to have you here in BP.

Dennis

Hey @Denise Mayo-Walley , Dennis here. Welcome to the site and great to have more people form the greater Houston area. Send me a private message with what you are looking for and I can start looking and email you what I find on the MLS. I would be more than happy to assist you and your husband on your property search.

Good luck and participate on the forums and learn as much as you can.

@Eric Benzenhoefer you need to hire an engineering firm that can do both the electrical and plumbing design and provide signed and seal drawings. I am a PE in Texas but I don't do residential drawings. I work with underground utilities.

You can find a residential architect that can give you names to mechanical engineers and electrical engineer they use for their designs.

And just to spread some knowledge... engineers that have passed the Fundamentals of Engineering exam (the first state exam) are called E.I.T. (engineer in training). It was kinda funny the way you wrote PEit. After passing the second exam then you become a PE, licensed professional engineer and can sign/stamp drawings.

I wish you good luck!