All Forum Posts by: Jake Hobson

@Jason S. Much appreciated.  I'm encouraged to see that there's someone else who's converted homesteads in this area into rentals.  As to my goal... for this purchase I'm looking to find a home that I can move my family into (not trashed), conduct moderate upgrades, which will cash flow ~$200/month (after we move out), and have a Cash-on-Cash return ~10% or greater.

Jason, any advice which it peculiar to purchasing homes/finding reasonable deals in your area? I'm lined up (or will be in another day or two) with pre-approved financing.  My math is showing that ~$200k homes is where the cash flow can happen as well. 

@Sid Jones the resolution your provide on tax protests is fantastic.  I hadn't thought about studying comps for property tax assessment.  And of course, I love the link to Bexar county's tax website.  I also like your idea of a duplex with the mother-in-law apartment for house hacking.  I'll add that type of property into my search parameters.  I appreciate your time!

@James W.  Thanks again for the reminder on house hacking.  I'm feeling the pain/reality of the fact that the houses I want to live in don't always work out as a great rental property.  I also appreciate you sharing your experience with contesting your property tax.  

Folks, I'm overwhelmed by the fantastic replies! (especially on a Saturday)

@Kris L. Thanks for the point out to the Converse area.  I'll take a closer look there.

@Jason S.  I'm grateful for your reminder of reducing expenses and the examples you gave.  It also seems the taxes are not exactly as fixed as I thought.  I've heard of others protesting the taxes in this area each year as well.  Any thoughts on exemptions?  I've heard that adding solar provides an exemption (for the value increase that the solar installation provides).  Are there any other exemption tricks you might be aware of?

@Steve Rozenberg I appreciate the pump-up on the TX markets.  I'd love to invest elsewhere, but I'm not stoked to invest from afar, nor do I have the experience/confidence to execute long distance investing yet.  Also, I appreciate the connection to Mr.  Larsen.  I'll reach out to him.

@Aaron Bihl It's great to have your local insight.  I'll keep up the search for the lower tax areas for sure.  A few of the houses that I've been looking at would have to be rented out in the low $2k's to cash flow.  I'll steer away from those.

@Andrew K. Fantastic advice.  It's an uphill battle getting my wife to buy off on purchasing a house that "needs some love,"  but I'm tracking on how value-add is essential (especially in this market) to producing cash flow.  We're also paying very close attention to school districts as well (for us an the value they bring to a rental).  Do you have any idea how successful the property tax protests can be (I recognize you haven't done this yet yourself)?  Again, thank for reaching out.  I'll be in touch, if that's okay!

Gents, killer advice here.  Thank you all so much.

Also, any active Texas (or San Antonio) investors have any specific advice for the area?

Caleb, thanks for the advice.  I particularly valued your caution on purchasing a property above the appraised value.  Would you think that purchasing a property significantly below the latest appraised value would similarly end up lowering the taxes the next year?

Hi Bigger Pockets!

      This is my first post, so be gentle.  I wanted to reach out and see if anyone has any advice about investing (buy and hold) in areas with high property taxes.  My specific situation; I'm military and we're moving to San Antonio, TX in a few months.  We're looking to kick off our investment portfolio by purchasing a home to live in for two years and then rent out.  Almost all of the reasonably priced homes have zero to negative cash flow as a result of the high property taxes in the area ($6k per year for ~$250k home).  Any advice on dealing specifically with these high taxes?  Thanks in advance for the replies!

-Jake