All Forum Posts by: JD Castillo

Welcome @Jacob D. !   There's a lot of experience on BP that can help you achieve your goals.  Looks like you have your head on straight and I'm sure you'll be successful.  As far as reading material...the real estate market is always changing so BP is a great place to stay up to date on current market trends.  To stay on top of market changes, you might also want to check out DS News.  If you make it your home page, you can get a brief 5 min news update every morning before you check your email.  

On getting your license, I don't think it's a must for you to get your license at this point. But about 6 months before you buy, I would seriously consider getting your real estate license so you are able to pull your own comps on the MLS for the property you decide to pull the trigger on. The money that you save on a deal by purchasing it at the right price will outweigh the cost to maintain your license.

As far as meetups in DFW, here are the ones that I would highly recommend.  

1. Dennis Henson has a couple Meetups HEB REI Group  and the AREA meetup

2. DFW REI Club with Greg Wilson and Robin Carriger

If i can offer one small piece of advice about getting started in RE investing; There are many ways to invest in Real estate, figure out one that works for you and learn all you can about it. Do all of your due diligence before pulling the trigger on one but don't over think it.   "You make your money when you buy the property." 

@Chris Soignier Great advice!  I love the blanket policy approach to holding real estate.  Especially for investors starting out.  It keeps things simple. That's what I do with my rentals.  My next step for asset protection will probably be to hold them in a family trust.

Sorry for the typos.   Talk to text. :)

*** DTI refers

(Not "DTI first")

***you only want to add $400 to your monthly debt.  Not the $10,000

DTI first to your debt to income ratio. So if you add up all of your minimum monthly payments each month then divide it by your monthly income, you will have that number. Due to the Dodd Frank the current requirements for a Fannie Mae loan say that you should have a debt to income percentage under 43% (including your new payment for the property that you are purchasing)

Remember that it is talking about your monthly debt. So if you owe $10,000 on a car but your minimum monthly payment is $400, then for the purpose of DTI, you don't want to dollars to your monthly debt. Not the $10,000.

So, you're self-employed in order to determine your debt to income, a loan officer cheese will add up two years of income and divided by 24 months to calculate your monthly income.  

As long as you have claimed being a landlord on your tax return for 2 years... 75% of income from all new, LEASED, rental property will be counted as income for your DTI ratio.

 If you have not claimed being a landlord for 2 years, another option would be talking to a local/regional bank such as First Financial or Justin State Bank about their financing options.   Because they do all of their own underwriting and hold their own paper, they are able to work with investors on more of a relationship basis.  

I like Fort Worth

@Sergio Berumen Since you're in Arlington, you can always check out the AREA meetup as well.  

AREA Meetup Link  

They always have good speakers and it's a great place to network.   That one and the one at Woodhaven Country Club that @Hattie Dizmond recommended always have a good crowd. 

Money Magazine has considered Fort Worth as one of the best value buys to live in the country (October 2014).  In a different issue (April 2014) they called Fort Worth on of the best places to buy Real Estate.  Forbes also called Fort Worth and Arlington the #1 place to invest in Real Estate in the nation!  (Click Link for article) Voting Dallas as #2 

I LOVE the Tarrant County market and Texas in general.   It's been good to me.  

When we buy property, especially from homeowners in Tarrant county, it's pretty rare that we get mineral rights.  

Thank you Eva.  You can NEVER have too many reliable, investor friendly contractors.  

i would love to stop by and take a look at it for you.  I'm not a contractor but i've been doing investment type real estate for the last 11 years, mostly in the DFW area.   My office is off of Magnolia just south of Downtown Fort Worth.   

just a bit of info...before you give me or anyone the address of the property, make sure that you 

1. have a SOLID relationship with the seller directly to prevent anyone from trying to go around you.  or 

2. have the property under contract in your option period.