All Forum Posts by: Erin Dixon

We're purchasing a SFR 3BR in the Fort Worth area (near Carter Park) and have the option of having all electric, or upgrading to nat. gas water heater, range, laundry, and HVAC.

We're planning on holding for the long term (10+ years), but this is our first property and we're just starting out. Prop. manager says that for that area people don't really care about nat. gas either way. Upgrade would cost $1500, plus $650 or so for a venting range hood, which would be rolled into the purchase price.

As a tenant I would prefer it for the utilities savings, and as a landlord I feel saving on utilities may be incentive for tenants to stay longer, but is there added safety risk? I saw a notice that was put out to the area about 5 years ago explaining the risks of natural gas, since the city is involved significantly with obtaining reserves of it in the area. I wonder if it has made people more leery of having it in their home?

We'll also be insulating the attic, installing ceiling fans in 3 bedrooms and study, and are on the fence about a 15 SEER HVAC over a 14 SEER.

I like tenants to feel that we have their needs in mind, want them to feel safe and comfortable in the home, and that they're not paying more than they have to because we chose to save ourselves a few bucks.

Any input greatly appreciated!!

@Mike D'Arrigo It's true, Texas property does have higher than average taxes, but the unit we're working on met our requirements for a place, and the HOA doesn't seem outrageous. It should cash flow similar to many of the markets we've looked into.

Vegas does have it's downsides and is a weird animal, but it's in a location we're familiar with, it checks out on all of our requirements, and we felt good about it. We plan on holding for a long time, hopefully 10+ years. I'm much more conservative than my husband which means we try to have a much bigger cushion than we probably need, but it keeps my mind at ease.

@Rick Reed Thanks for all your tips, those are great! Will definitely be trying some out

@Robert Adams and @Albert Hasson

Great advice, going to follow up with a lot of the points you mentioned. My husband has been dealing with the purchase side of things, I'll bring up your points to him. He texted me yesterday that a five year lease had been signed and I was really surprised about the length. I emailed the property manager and asked for a copy of the lease agreement, and asked what sort of background checks they do (have been meaning to do this, wish we would've already), and she'll be sending it today. I'll also see about credit history.

I'm hoping I can adjust a few things, find out the tenant's reasoning for wanting such a long lease (doesn't want rent raised, I'm assuming), but I don't see how that long of a lease is of any benefit to us. If they prove to be good tenants over time then we're not going to pull the rug out from under them.

@Anderson Schulle Kansas City and Indianapolis came up, as well as Memphis, and they're on our list for possible future purchases. We were hoping to purchase two more over the next year, but are trying to decide between doing that and purchasing a small townhouse in the DC area to live in while we're there and rent out when we're not. Tough call.

All signs for the Chicago property pointed to "good", but as with most things, we'll have to see how it stands the test of time. I'm optimistic about our selections, but we'll see.

@Greg Meech I really like the different investing options you proposed, thanks for those. At this point we're looking at starting small with the three and testing the waters for a bit, but eventually diversifying into different aspects, like you mentioned, could be something really profitable. We like the idea of various income streams.

I would have loved to start with a duplex and live in one side while renting the other, especially as a way of testing the waters, but there don't seem to be many, if any, duplexes back in the area of VA we'll eventually be in. But, we still have another year or so before we're back, so maybe we'll have figured out another option by then :). We'd love to not have to pay the $1600+ in rent just to live in the area.

@Robert Adams A tenant just signed a 5 yr lease for the SFR we're buying in Vegas, so I'm sure I'll have some questions for you soon, thanks!!

@John Weidner

Since we're overseas and the area we do live in when we're not abroad (DC) is so overpriced, we decided to go with turn-key companies to start, since it streamlines and minimizes a lot of the work. We wanted to diversify, and those are three of the markets we felt good about, at least in the areas we're in the process of buying in. Eventually I would like to be more directly involved on the landlord side and have some units in whatever town we settle in, but settling in one spot seems pretty far in the future at this point.

We have a reliable contact who helped us decide on Chicago, and the Fort Worth and Vegas locations were in good neighborhoods and priced right, among other things, plus I have family in Vegas and Fort Worth, so if I ever needed to eventually move my mom over there then she'd have family nearby. We don't plan on telling our parents what we're up to for a while, though. ;)

Sawatdii-kha (Hello)!!

We're a couple of young parents with three small boys and one full-time job. We've saved up a bit and have decided to explore the massive world of REI. We currently live in Thailand, but when we're not abroad we live in the No. VA area of the U.S.

We like the idea of buy and hold, and turnkey for now (hard to fix a property from here). We're (hoping to) start out with three properties this year, a SFR in Vegas, one in Fort Worth, and a 2-unit in Chicago.

We go between feelings of excitement and panic, but the kids have kind of gotten us used to that, and the wealth of info on BP helps with the nerves.

I like saving money, travel hacking, and DIY. We're interested in REI because we're interested in cash flow, not necessarily for now, but more for later, as it's looking like we'll be the only ones in a position to take care of our parents, and our kids, and ourselves. We'd just like to be able to do all three and have a little fun at the same time.

We're really glad to have found your community, especially because I have a million questions, and am very indecisive, and feel like I have to research everything to death before I can make a decision. So thank you all for making the process easier for me.