All Forum Posts by: Eric Thomson

@Jay Hinrichs - Actually today Texans are complaining about the 50 degree weather. But by tomorrow they'll be complaining about the heat again. But no, I understand this is more of a buy and hold conversation. And I would really be interested in figuring out dollar for dollar which had the best ROI. If a house in California could fetch anywhere close to the same monthly rent as a similarly priced home in Texas then Cali is the winner. And that could very well be the case, but I just don't see it. You may be able to find a $50,000 house in Cali but I don't see it only needing $5k in rent-ready renovations. And even then how does the rent on that compare to here?

And I'm not sure what you guys are getting in terms of appreciation, but my last flip I paid $160k (5% down), $12k rehab, around $3k in closing costs (I'm an agent) sold for $235k. I'm fairly happy with a 260% ROI from an MLS property.

I think Texas' lower property values offset the property taxes paid. What are you paying in Cali, around 1%? @Account Closed is probably paying somewhere around 2-2.5% on his $50,000 houses that you are buying in Cali for $100k-150k. The real question is rental rates. What is your buy and hold ROI for similar properties? Thousands of Californians are flooding into Texas everyday. Do you guys even have any renters left? I personally think that California barely has the advantage in regards to property taxes, if any. Unless your rental rates are just astronomical I see Texas as the winner if for no other reason than the stability of the market. Once you factor the income tax, vehicle tax, soda tax, obesity tax, smoking tax, and all other ridiculous taxes you guys pay, Texas is the real winner. You could always live in Texas and invest in Cali, but I would imagine being that far away from your investments would add to your expense anyway...

Hello Jason, welcome (back) to BP. Did I hear you mention something about a BP Houston meetup on your yacht?

Hello Vanessa, and welcome to BP! As you may have already found the users on this site have a wealth of knowledge in all aspects of real estate and share it openly. You should have no problem learning even more.

Hello Eric Thompson with a 'p'. Congratulations on your purchase and your awesome name. And welcome to BP. How long has your upstairs tenant been leasing there? It sounds like your downstairs tenant is a good long term renter.  If it were me I would approach them first about their intentions, like you suggest, and see if they are willing to sign at least a 1-year lease. You could even offer to lock him in at his current rate if he does (or however you want to work it out). That sounds like the tenant I would go after first, plus if he ever does move you have a downstairs unit available which may be easier to lease (not that you couldn't move to the upstairs unit once that one left if that's the path you take). If he doesn't want to sign a long term lease then that would be a red flag to me that he may not be planning on sticking around. If he does then great! Good luck!

Ryan, I've seen many Realtors (and others) use the Master 5400D combination keybox you can pickup at any home improvement store. It's what I use on all of my listings.

Hello Laurent. A Subject To would only be used if the seller had an existing mortgage (your purchase is "subject to" that mortgage). In that case you would take over the mortgage payments. In your case you would want to talk to the seller about offering owner financing or a lease option. You would be paying monthly, but your lump sum payment would not come until you were ready to sell. You would want to try to negotiate no, or very little, money upfront (which might make the lease option a better fit).

Welcome to BP! Good luck with your investing.

Check out Fannie and Freddie's HomePath and HomeSteps (respectively) programs. They don't always have a lot of inventory that would make a good deal but they have great incentives. If you can find the right deal on one you can, as an investor, purchase with only 10% down and pay no PMI.