All Forum Posts by: Ebony Townsend

I currently have a fourplex under contract in Wharton, TX. Each unit is 2 bdrm 1 bath. All units are currently occupied and each tenant pays their own utilities. The property needs minimal work. There are no comparable sales for the property. The Wharton County Appraisal district has a market value of $236,000. I would like advice on how to figure out the comparable sales or find out how much the property in worth without having to pay for an appraisal upfront. Any advice would be helpful.

I currently have a fourplex under contract in Wharton, TX.  Each unit is 2 bdrm 1 bath.  All units are currently occupied and each tenant pays their own utilities.  The property needs minimal work.  There are no comparable sales for the property.  The Wharton County Appraisal district has a market value of $236,000.  I would like advice on how to figure out the comparable sales or find out how much the property in worth without having to pay for an appraisal upfront.  Any advice would be helpful. 

I have a property under contract in Wharton Texas.  It is a Fourplex each unit containg 2 bdrm 1 bath.  Each unit rents for $600, currently all occupied, and tenants pay utilities.  There are no comps for this property whatsoever.  However, the appraisal district has it's market value and appraised value at $246k.  The question I have is if there aren't any comps how close is the appraisal district value close to the actual value of the property?  I am looking for a property with good cash flow but more importantly equity.  The fourplex is currently under contract for $130k. 

Hi Cliff. Thanks for you feedback.  I am talking about the Shawnee St. homes.  I currently have the place under contract for a lot less than asking price.  I am  having an appraisaer come out there.  It is all bills paid for now $600 monthly, which I plan to change.  Thus far they have not had problems with getting rent from the tenants but one person and he has been removed.  I'm ok with investing in rough areas.  That does not scare me away.  I didn't grow up in a rough area but a lot of my family did.  Everyone needs a place to live and there are people in rough areas who will pay their rent.  They just can't afford to live outside of the area.  Rent of $600 monthly on 6 houses and 3 empty lots isn't bad for what it is under contract for.  I don't plan on doing major renovations but at least making a few repairs and really screening the tenants.  

Does any one know of some good affordable contractors and property managers in the Corpus Christi area?  I am going to need to renovate 6 small apartment homes and have a Property Management company manage them.

Can anyone tell me what the 78401 area code of corpus christi is like with buy and hold multi family properties?

Thanks Cody for the response.  That is something to think about.  Also those six homes also come with three vacant lots behind it.  I haven't even thought about what to do with that.  

Hi Tim.  Thanks for your reply.  The current owner who did inherit the property did make each tenant sign a document with their lease start and end date and how much is due.  I do have copies of those.  I pretty much put an offer on the property as soon as it listed.  From what I was told the owner was an older woman who passed away in June and heired it to who grand child who just doesn't want it all.  So she was basically willing to accept anything.  It also comes with three empty lots.  The houses do not inhabitable but does need work.  However, they are not located in a desirable neighborhood.  

Thanks Ryan for the genuine reply.  @ Dick I have a 30 day option period to do my due diligence to find out if this is the right deal for me.  Then I have an additional 30 days to close.  If I back out the most I loose is $200.  I am looking for advice on what would be the best use of my time in these next 30 days.  Keep in mind I am a new investor looking for guidance but I have a general idea of what I am going to do and have already been approved for financing.  

Hi. My name is Ebony and I am new to real estate investing. I've made an offer on a few deals but was out bidded. Recently, I came across a property. The property is located 3 hours away from me. I am in Houston BTW. The property has 6 individual apartment homes on one lot. Each home is 476 Sq ft with a 15 sq porch. All homes are renting for $600 and that includes their utilities and they are all on month to month leases. Apparently, there is a waiting list to rent them. In addition to the 6 apartment homes, there are three empty lots being sold with it. This property is located in Corpus Christi. They were asking 180k. I offered 140k and they countered with 155k final offer, which I accepted.

Currently, I have the property under contract. They have given me a 30 day option period with 60 day close. Here is where my questions start. The property was owned by an older woman who recently passed away. It was heired to her grand child who does not want the property. The owner who passed kept very poor records. There are no rent rolls, no leases nothing! To make things more complex there are absolutely no other comps to compare it to in the area. So it would need a full appraisal to even see how much it is worth. I have not seen the property yet to estimate repairs as I have just placed it under contract and it is three hours away.

I have a few questions and need suggestions. All help is appreciated as this my first and apparently big deal.

What do you suggest I do during th 30 option period seeing that the property is 3 hours away?

Would a hard money lender or conventional leander be best for this deal? I have the 25% down payment but it would eat up my liquid capital.

How much do you think something like this is worth based on the numbers given?

Should I take out a loan just for the property and just continue to lease it out? If it has a lot of equity refinance and pull out cash for repairs and renovate the units as they become vacant?

Or should I take out a loan for the property and repairs upfront and try to renovate all of the units at the same time, which would require me to get the tenants to move and then raise the rent with new leases?

Last question. What should I do with the three empty lots that come with it? They are all adjacent to the property.