All Forum Posts by: Jaime Ruiz

There are several brokerage firms here in Houston that have a good network of lenders for you to choose from. From my only experience, that was the best way to connect me with financing on my flip property. Every lender has there own value. You should consider the ones that align with what you need at this moment. I also didn't use an LLC. The lenders really liked that I had a W-2 job. They explained to me that it was less of a risk for them if I could pay with regularly flowing income. Also having a rental helped as well with my DTI. What I am saying is call around the people that already have a network of lending instutions and their products. Ask some questions. Asking questions actually made me interesting to them. To tell you the truth, someone who doesn't ask questions makes me feel uncomfortable when I genuinely want to help, so I see why they would as well. So start networking. That narrows your search by leveraging their relationships.

Thank you all! I really appreciate your input. I am beginning to look into other loan brokers as another route. Hopefully all goes well. My market is in Houston, TX. and is pretty competitive right now. Just have to keep moving and prepare for the process.

Greetings!

I am somewhat new to investing. I first bought my first rental turnkey using a conventional loan. My second deal was a flip that went bad. I was still able to flip it, but lost about 10k on this deal. BIG lessons learned. My primary home then became a rental after i moved to be closer to work. That was a foreclosure that we picked up back in 2008. Looking back it was a long live in flip. And now i am working on what might be a third rental.

I wanted to reach out to the community and ask about my dilemma. I recently reached out to one of my lenders to get the ball rolling on a new loan. My strategy was going to be to buy a property as a primary residence to live in. I had heard that if at least you buy one property a year and accumulate 10, this would be a good strategy to gain cash flow passively. So i figured i would go at it. This same lender provided an FHA loan for me and my family. I had used this lender once when at the time i lived 40 miles away from where i worked and i really wanted to cut down the commute. So my family and i decided to purchase a home closer to work. We decided to keep first house as a rental. A year has passed since i moved closer to work. This is where the dilemma begins. Apparently my lender says that there is a great chance that the underwriter will not give me another low down loan as a primary residence since it looks like i am an investor. It appears like i am taking advantage of the system. Am i doing something unethical?

It happened to me some time ago. I had an hunch that they had a dog. The tenant kept saying it was a friends dog and they were pet sitting. When they moved out I took it out of the security deposit. I did have a pet clause in my lease agreement. It could have been worse for them!

I agree with @Nikolas Ferreira about the David Weekly homes, i used to be in construction for five years doing slabs with my father, they were some of the highest quality houses we worked for. I liked them so much i bought my home built by them instantly once my realtor told me they built the community. Other good ones were Brighton Homes, Meritage, and Kimball Hill. Castle Rock is about the same as Kimball Hill, one of the managers left KH to create Castle Rock. I would stay away from KB homes, garbage. This is all my opinion of course. Good luck to you!

Hello @Nikolas Ferreira, i concluded these numbers from my own pricing. I have been to alot of walk throughs with actual GC's on other properties. And the internet helps too. I just got one of my first bids for repairs at an alarming $22 a sq ft from a GC. The price tag makes me nervous. I am talking to another GC hoping he can get me down to $14-$15 a sq ft. He seems very optimistic. I had not heard of pricing this way, by the way. The math seems easier. Surprisingly my wife is being supportive. She says to keep working the numbers. She understands that this is my vision and goal, to get through this first deal above/ahead is all i could ask for. I am thinking i might have to go the old Brandon Turner route, a lot of elbow grease!

Thank you for your support sir!

Hi BP nation,

I would like to get some advice or confirmation of these jitters i have for a deal i am about to enter. 

This would be my second acquisition of an investment property here in Houston. The first being what turned out to be a turn-key property. The original owner decided not to rent but flip for quick cash to pay for some medical expenses. I came in and purchased at market value because it had great cash flow potential.

This next home is a project, a bigger one that i have not experienced. I got the deal from a local wholesaler who befriended me and am very grateful he even has the time to talk to me about his 20+ years experience. It is a 4/2/3 in a blue collar area, Pasadena, TX. The area has good rentals and a good amount of homes have been newly remodeled. Most homes in the area were built in the 50's. Like a lot of Houston homes, the foundation is damaged, which in turn damaged the rest of the house. The plumbing, the roof frame, the sheet rock. The previous tenants decided to take the A/C unit and all the wiring. There is an add on master suite that needs to be repaired. Of course the electrical most likely needs to get updated.

I have a HML all lined up to finance with. I called out an inspector and he basically confirmed what i had already deduced, needs work. The numbers are good from what i can tell. the comps are in the $90 sq ft for recently sold homes on the MLS. I am getting this one for $44 sq ft. Even after rehabbing cost, i would be all in at $63 sq ft. But i am just nervous as all get out! Its fear, of the unknown. What i know about the deal doesn't calm me. Its the lack of experience, the risk that i am taking, even when i know the goals that i have set tell me that i need to take that leap if i want to succeed. In my mind i can hear @BrandonTurner tell me "just start", while @JoshDorkin says, "uhh, i don't know man, you sure about this?" I have heard almost all of the podcast that my real estate consciousness sounds like them! I have done a lot of deals on paper, and some i have moved on only to be too slow to get the bid. Its been two years of just window shopping, writing yellow letters, and driving for dollars. I didn't feel this nervous the day i got married, this is worse. (not the marriage part, but the anxiety that i get from thinking that this could be the one that gets me in the game) I love my wife!

My question is if this is excitement or fear? And can anyone relate?  Thanks

Congratulations sir! Best of luck to you.

Even in the nice areas that you mentioned there are pockets within  them that could be risky. I invested in Spring but go a little south near Greenspoint and the windows are barred. In Humble and Atascosita, same thing, pockets of questionable activity. Use Trulia's crime map. Desirable is subjective to each individual, what don't you want? I haven't heard Bear Creek(I live near here),Woodlands, Baytown, Crosby( I work near here). Nice areas.

Outside the belt, (Beltway 8), is the burbs. Inside the Loop(610) there is some gentrification going on, mostly north with trickles down south of downtown. In between these two is a whole lot of pockets of good and shady. What you might really need is a local investor friendly agent, partner, or bird dog that can help you out. Or get some turnkey help, like Mr. Craven or Mr. Clothier. There are some others too.

Best of luck!

Done! "I can't stop listening to BP podcast! You have to check it out!"