All Forum Posts by: Dan Starr

I wanted to see if anyone had any good recommendations for General Contractors for flip projects in Heights/Montrose area. The house is a 1920s house and would like someone who has worked with this style projects in the region. 

Thanks,

Dan Starr

Michael, Let's chat a little bit about this? Is there a property in particular you have your eye on. I decided to invest in the near north side instead and live close to EADO. Give me a call 7402606291.

I pulled the trigger on a property in the Near Northside Area in Houston. I have an awesome little set up. I have a double level garage that is pretty new and has about 750 sq feet of living space.  The space has central air and electric but the previous owner did not put in plumbing. Does anyone know of any good plumbers in the Northside Area? I know @Kevin Wood talked on his podcast about some good contractors in the area. If anyone has any recommendations please share.

Thanks,

Dan Starr

Thanks for the input guys. I will continue looking for a solid deal in the area. I am looking to do a live-in flip and want to make sure I am buying in a neighborhood that has real value add potential. If anyone wants to meet up I'd love to buy them coffee and talk a little Eado and RE in general.

@AJ Hoffmann when I look at the MLS the Eastwood neighborhood seems to be the core of the residential development in the in the area. I know what the homes are listed for, but are homes really selling for 350-400? If so there are opportunities for some huge spreads in the area.

When I talk to my realtor they seem to think a lot of the potential will be based on business development in the area. Does anyone have any more insight on plans for commercial development in the area?

The biggest problem I am having using the MLS is drawing lines around what streets/neighborhoods where you can find a good investment and which neighborhoods are still 10 years away. I will probably do a little driving around this week see if I can get a better feel. There's one thing for sure, people love the area and there are restaurants and bars popping up everywhere.

I think given the right situation, it would give a new investor (like myself) an opportunity to really ad value to a place and get the ball rolling in the right direction. 

I was wondering if anyone had any experience investing in EADO (east downtown) Houston. It seems like there are a lot of value add opportunities in a place where homes are being sold for between 350k and 450k. You can find homes on the same block for around 200k.

If anyone has any information on how successful the East End Revitalization effort has been thus far, please share.

Thanks in advance for any

 @Cameron Tope Thats why I feel like inside the 610 loop is the best place to invest. That's the area that always will be occupied. I feel like the Heights are the Manhattan of Houston and will always have a demand. I know appreciation will likely slow but if I can wait it out I feel like there will be a pay day in the end. Buying it right is key for me.

Also Cinco Ranch and the surrounding Katy area will probably be the most impacted as it is so close to the energy corridor. Since downtown is more diversified I feel as if competition will stay where it needs to be.

I'm sure Katy would be a good place to invest with prices being lower than usual, as long as you can afford to weather the storm.

@Cameron Tope I believe that with Oil being the way it is, it's enabled me to find a lot better deal than I would have a year ago. The exit strategy is to sit on the property. My overall plan of attack is to build a structure that is very common in the heights, the Garage Apartment. A well maintained, high end Garage Apartment will give you up to 1300 dollars a month of rental income. I will be able to used this income to offset my costs while I do a lot of my own work and add a lot of sweat equity. 

So with oil being the way it is, I see this as an opportunity. I will wait out OPEC's economic choke hold and also hope Houston continues to diversify it's overall economic makeup. I have done a solid amount of research on the oil crash of 1986 and it seems as if Houston is in much better shape to take on this economic downturn.  What are your thoughts? 

Hi everyone, @Brandon Turner's , The Book on Investing in Real Estate with No (and Low) Money Down, has got me thinking about this as a real strategy for wealth building. I am looking to move into an A neighborhood (the Heights of Houston) and do it on a deal. Build some additions even a garage apartment for rental income and add tremendous value to a home. The sales price on my target property would be around 300k price on a 5,000 square foot lot and doing my own upgrades and turning it into a home where the area has most of it listings over 600k.

Any suggestions? My only worry is that my W-2 job won't be able to let me sit on such an expensive home for very long. My goal would be to sell the home in about 15 months in the summer time when the Market is hot.