All Forum Posts by: Chad Clanton

Hi @Aaron Scott, @Jonatan Barbera has taken over that meetup for me, but it appears that they do have a meeting tonight according to meetup.com, and they're open to anyone interested in the subject of real estate. Go check it out, it's a good group!

SA just approved a 10yr, $300 million project to renovate the Alamo plaza, and lots of other neat little tourist projects. They also just passed an $850 million dollar bond for roads, etc. My problem is what happens when you spend tons of money bringing tourists and middle class folks into the city, but you take a 1/2mi walk from those areas and things are completely rundown because there's no required upkeep and all that revenue never gets spread around very much. Also not super impressed with the schools that we pay for. There's got to be a balance, it can't just be "let's renovate Hemisfair/the River Walk/Alamo, etc" and ignore the basics. Taxes are "supposed" to have some general benefit, not just pay for another coat of polish.

Sales tax is already around 8.5% here, and with properties' tax assessments increasing literally well over 100% on many properties (no change of hands, status, etc, just the assessments), I'd say the system is pretty goofed up. Personally, I'm thoroughly convinced we paid less in income tax when we lived in VA than we do now in property tax, sales tax, various and sundry fees, etc. Not a fan of how the city/county can, and does, just change the assessments when they feel like it. That's my perception and opinion, anyhow; I'm sure they vary.

HI @Jeff Chapz, not to be pessimistic, but I'd definitely start off with someone on a couple of lower key projects; I've seen lots of contractors get dollar signs flashing in their eyes at a big project, and then fold halfway through, if even that far along. Contractors are quite challenging in SA and even the same contractors vary from job to job, both reliability- and quality- wise. I'd be very diligent in your vetting and cautious in your solicitation, because everyone you talk to will respond with the tried and true "can do" attitude to that type of proposal, but you may find that they can't do. Feel free to shoot me a PM if I can help with anything.

@Ronato O. just some public records searches and crossreferencing. Hope your investment is going well!

Home Advisor is good for well-branded contractors, but not so much the less-branded ones. I've had mixed results from Home Advisor as well, but anytime you can get reviews, feedback, licensing, etc the better.

Go with your gut. I've seen a number of agents not present offers (as is their job) for approximately the reasons you've mentioned. This tends to directly correlate to the quality of the agent, in my opinion, though hearing them out first isn't a bad idea. If they're not even willing to present your counteroffer, though, I might reiterate (or establish) my expectations, then start looking around for someone new if they still won't do it.

Meh. Office Space is never truly played out. Fun fact, it was filmed in your hometown! It is also possible we have a different definition of "class". In any event, good luck going forward.

Jim, you have your very own thread bashing the industry as a whole, yet claiming to want to be part of it. I have not attacked anyone, I have simply offered advice, much of it based on my personal experience. I apologize if that's not helpful. As it stands, I'm just going to place you on my ignore list so you'll stop eating up my alerts with your attacks on literally everyone who's disagreed with you thus far. Good luck in your future endeavors and I hope that you get where you're trying to go.

@Account Closed, network and find access. Stop trolling the site. I haven't had much luck either with some of my endeavors, but I can pretty much define why and it's not the system and everybody else. I simply need to find a new angle. Haven't found it yet, in some cases, but still working on it. Blowing off frustration in the forums isn't going to help. Good luck with your future endeavors and invest smart.