All Forum Posts by: Eliza Sprague

@Sharisma Sawyer, thank you so much! I would love recommendations for agents in the Austin/San Antonio area. I am headed to Austin tomorrow and will be there for the week so am definitely trying to meet as many people as I can while I'm there, and would love to hear about the market from local agents.

@Jordan Moorhead, thanks so much for your responses! I've heard the same from others regarding condos and definitely see the risks with having so much less control over the property. I'm itching to find a way around that problem and fix this property, but that may be a more advanced project to save for later. Have you or anyone you know invested in condos before? Does lack of control tend to be the major issue or are there others as well?

I've seen the same thing as you with Austin multifamilies (at least the on-market ones). It seems very difficult to make them cashflow, assuming my numbers are accurate. I've been looking in San Antonio, San Marcos, New Braunfels, and Killeen and finding a bit more, but good to know that others are finding the same issues. Definitely keeping Airbnb in mind as an option as well.

I'm struggling a bit with the LLC issue, as I do have some non-real estate assets that I definitely need to protect. This may change my strategy a bit, which is fine. House hacking may not be a good option, but I can still look for cashflow. I'll start seriously looking at larger (5-10 unit) multifamilies as well, since I wouldn't be able to get the owner-occupied benefits for them anyway and they're more likely to be seen as genuine investment properties.

Thanks again for your help! Apologies for the long message:-) 

Hi everyone! I can't tell you how excited I am to have found this amazing community! My boyfriend and I have been looking to invest in real estate for a long time, but never quite found the confidence to take the first step. This is my first post, but listening to the BP podcasts and reading the forums over the last few months has pushed us to finally begin setting goals and making plans. I can't wait to actually get to know all of you!

A bit of background - I currently live in NYC, but my boyfriend and I are looking to move to Austin, TX within the next year to put down some roots. I am a financial analyst for a healthcare consulting company and he has worked in real estate as an asset manager/financial analyst for the last 10 years. 

Our goal is to purchase (and house-hack)  a small multifamily (4-8 units) near Austin/San Antonio before 2019 and slowly work our way to bigger properties as we gain more experience. 

I have bunches of questions obviously, and I'll ask those on specific forums, but I have a couple of newbie questions that I would love everyone's insight on:

1. In the course of my search for distressed multifamily properties, I've actually come across an HOA that appears to be poorly managed. What would be the best way to add value in that case? Is it just a matter of buying a condo within the HOA and getting on the board? What are people's thoughts on getting involved in dysfunctional HOAs?

2. I am planning to buy all of my properties through an LLC, as I have some non-RE assets that I want to be sure are protected in case anything happens. I am wondering if it would be worth the risk to buy as an owner-occupant knowing that the corporate veil is much flimsier in that case? I'll be speaking with an RE attorney as well, but wanted to get general thoughts.

And lastly, I have some solid budgeting and presentation design experience from my work, so if anyone could use some help or an extra pair or hands with either, please let me know!