All Forum Posts by: George Gao

One of my tenants changed her locks without my permission. But otherwise she has been a good tenant.

The lease clearly states that the tenant is prohibited from changing or rekeying the locks.

What should I do about it if anything?

Hi BP,

I have been frustrated with my PM from time-to-time in terms of response time and how long it takes to rent out some of the properties.  So I'm most likely giving them 30-days notice and start to transition the properties (8 doors) to be self-managed.  The biggest concerns I have is rent collection.  Most of the tenants have been pretty good about on-time payments.  What's the most efficient way to collect rent in your opinion.  Keep the status quo of collecting checks, or set up Cozy or open a deposit-only account? Thanks!

There is a 5-units in San Leon TX (near Texas City refinery). 1x1bd/1ba ($1k/mo); 3xstudios($700/mo) plus a RV($700/mo); all fully furnished, all utilities included (about $700/mo); but it's on private well and septic tank;  owner currently occupies the 1bd/1ba and makes his own repairs. So I don't know how much R&M expenses in the past. Also, it flooded a couple of inches during Harvey, which the owner repaired himself.  Lastly, the exterior is made of stucco, which I heard is not easy to repair in TX because it doesn't humidity to pass through the wall and can have mold build-up.  Does anyone have experience with stucco exterior in Houston that had a bad experience?

@Matt Hurley

Great. Thanks for the advice. You're right. I didn't factor in the weekly cleaning expense to account for the higher turnover.

A duplex in Baytown TX where there are lots of oil and gas companies, is being rented out by the room to refinery workers at $250/wk per bed. Total 5 bedroom/5ba. Asking $140k. On paper looks like very attractive CoC and cap rate, but the owner doesn't have leases and any documentation. Should I be wary of this type of rent by bed type of situations?

I only bought two deals from them in 16 and 17. The fees are high, ARV and rehab needs to be adjusted, but at least they have high deal flow. You just have to really do your own diligence and build those numbers into your returns. Also, sometimes they are under pressure to sell and can be a little pushy. I haven't had any horror stories otherwise.

@Ryan Johnson

Thanks for the input!  Would love to take you up on your offer of a tour of KG one of these days.  The duplexes are 1bd/1ba.  I missed out on the deal because someone beat me to it earlier that day.  

The wholesaler that sent me the deal was Michael Gordon from New Western Acquisitions.

There is a 38-unit self storage facility listed on MLS with average rent of $60/unit; Built in 1998; located in Porter, TX, which is in Montgomery County (north of Houston). This is a mom-and-pop operation. The area is blue-collar and 3mi off a busy interstate. Annual expenses about $5-$6k. Asking $280k, implies a 10cap with 17% coc. Does this seem like a too small of a facility? Is there an average size for storage facility that's needed to run optimally?

A wholesaler sent me a 5-unit (2 duplexes and 1 SFR) in Kashmere Garden (Houston) for $100k; it needs total rehab, at least $75k. I'm a little a concerned about the neighborhood but it'd cash flow great. Does anyone have experience investing in Kashmere Gardens?

Thanks Robert! That's similar to my line of thinking. I'll rerun the comps and see if the numbers makes sense. It just seems like the seller is overvaluing the ARV.