All Forum Posts by: Dennis Rodriguez

What??? That "Houston basically sits at or below sea level".... Sorry but this isn't true. Houston is very flat and that makes drainage very, very difficult (and slow) but saying we are below sea level is misleading. 

We rely on a very complicated and extensive system of Bayous, Reservoirs and channels to divert water from inland to the Gulf Coast. Being a civil engineer I've sat at many, many conferences where Houston's drainage systems has been discussed in detail by the Harris County Flood Control District and the US Army Corps of Engineers. The complete drainage system is constantly being studied, analyzed and upgraded but this rain event far exceeds any design levels or estimates. 

Our drainage experts are doing the best they can with all this rain and moving water from the lakes/reservoirs trying to make the least damage possible but it is just too much water. 

Good luck in your trip @Danny Duran. It's always nice to see people interested in investing in my hometown/country. Keep us updated on how things go. 

Dennis

You and everyone else would be surprised at the price some houses are renting for in the small towns outside of the Houston Metro Area (Waller, Liberty, Chambers, Brazoria and Galveston Counties). Do your due diligence and don't assume small towns equal lower rents. 

Dennis

PM me and I'll send you my contact. 

Dennis

@Ander Anderson in what part of town are you in? You mentioned Houston, Texas but we all know that encompasses a huge area. 

@Doug R. my uncle rents to students only. I honestly don't know the exact location of the properties but one of them is walking distance to the University. The other two are a little farther out. 

Thanks, 

@Mike Hurney Camuy is just about 1 hr from San Juan (depending on time of the day/traffic). 

Bienvenido @William Garcia

There's a few of us Puerto Ricans here in BP. From what I've heard the Rental market in PR is getting better due to the high foreclosure rates. People have no option but to rent once they go through Foreclosure. At least for several years until their credit gets better. 

Good luck investing. 

Dennis

Almost 90% of the investors I meet at the local area REI meet-ups (newer investors mainly) tell me they are interested in flips/rentals in Katy. That's all I'm going to say...

Good luck. 

Good info @Pamela P. 

One observation... I use both the Kwikset and Schlage wireless keyless locks here in Texas with very good results and I can operate them via the iPhone apps. Now, one thing to consider in PR is this, first in PR in some areas the power service either briefly goes out or you have "brown outs" that can get your wireless lock disconnected from the Wave-Z Hub or the Wifi Router and the lock won't always reconnect when the power comes back. It's almost necessary to put your WiFi router and Wave Z HUB on a battery (UPS) to avoid this. Second, the concrete walls will greatly affect the lock operation due to poor signal if you can't get the HUB or router close enough to the door. I had this happened at my parents house where I tested a Wink Wave-Z hub and the signal was "spotty" and had to try different locations to get it to work. Here in the states my Wink Hub has a range of 30-40 feet inside the house and it communicates very well. At my parents house I almost had to put it in direct "line-of-sight" with the lock because the walls would "kill" the signal. 

I'm not trying to discourage you just giving you some tips on things that operate slightly different in the island. 

Good Luck with your property and I hope I can read more from your experience down there. 

Dennis Rodriguez