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All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Account Closed has started 16 posts and replied 187 times.

Post: Everything is better in TX?

Account ClosedPosted
  • SFR Investor
  • Posts 198
  • Votes 61
Originally posted by @Tim Gross:
Originally posted by @Account Closed:
Originally posted by @Tim Gross:

Hi there - I am an active investor myself and own a name franchise here in Houston.

Hi Tim, we are in the proccess of selling off our homes in CA and moving to the NW Houston area. I am an investor and rehabber as well and we hold our homes for rent.

Awesome - If you have any questions or need anything here in Houston let me know. Side note I see you are in San Ramon now? I am up there a couple times a year my dad does contract work for Chevron.

Yes, we actually have a condo on the Daville side of the street next to the Costco and a residence in a little town in the central valley called Patterson, we spend most of our time out there since its close to our rentals. We invest in Modesto and Turlock and have one nice 2-2 that could be a three bed in Turlock on the MLS right now.

I should be out in Houston right away after that sells because we are doing a 1031 exchange.  Our residence in Patterson will be next up for sale after the Turlock home, it will most likely go to a homeowner because it's way too nice to be a rental.

Post: Everything is better in TX?

Account ClosedPosted
  • SFR Investor
  • Posts 198
  • Votes 61
Originally posted by @Tim Gross:

Hi there - I am an active investor myself and own a name franchise here in Houston.

 Hi Tim, we are in the proccess of selling off our homes in CA and moving to the NW Houston area. I am an investor and rehabber as well and we hold our homes for rent. 

Hmm, someone that is in the Realestate game complaining about a few bucks a month....

How about you let me rent one of your homes for free every other month?

All I have to say is WOW! Really?

I used this site for a couple of years for free and it helped me to avoid a lot of costly mistakes. FOR FREE! 

You will not find a better Realestate site anywhere, this is the best one there is!

Now I moved up to the plus account for more features, I spend more for lunch.....

Post: city license required for rental property

Account ClosedPosted
  • SFR Investor
  • Posts 198
  • Votes 61

It's just another tax, if a city charges me a fee to rent, there are plenty of other cities near by that will not and that is where I will invest.

Post: Should I allow my tenant to fix this?

Account ClosedPosted
  • SFR Investor
  • Posts 198
  • Votes 61

No! Never let tenants fix anything! Most of the time it will be a mess and you will pay twice as much to fix it right. There is also the insurance liability if they get hurt doing work on the home. Just don't do it.

Post: Charge based on number of Occupants

Account ClosedPosted
  • SFR Investor
  • Posts 198
  • Votes 61

You can't do that in California! I agree more people in a house wears it out much faster so I limit it to two adults per bedroom. I just went through this with some tenants that tried to sneak in their cousins. Lucky for me I am selling that house and they are moving in 30 days, the extra people are gone though because we told them we would give back half of all their late fees if they cooperated with all of our requests during the sale. They accumulated 500 dollars worth over three years.

Post: Using MLS for investing leads?

Account ClosedPosted
  • SFR Investor
  • Posts 198
  • Votes 61

I don't know about now but four years ago when no one was buying homes in California the MLS was my playground. Today every one of those homes is worth twice what I paid, I don't think I could do that again in my lifetime buying on the MLS. I was lucky and had the funds at the right time.

Now I look for homes you need cash to buy because they are in too bad of shape to get loans on, these are the ones I can make good money on right away. 

Post: Renting To Students

Account ClosedPosted
  • SFR Investor
  • Posts 198
  • Votes 61

When you do one of these homes it needs to be purpose built preferably from some junk house that needs all new everything. Then you can kid proof it in many ways like using plywood under the Sheetrock so they can't put holes in it, making each room furnished including their own refrigerator and each room have a lock and deadbolt.

The floors can be done in acid stained concrete that is nearly indestructible, the garage can be divided into storage lockers and one room for an office so you have reason to be there at any time. Security cameras on the front door sides and back of the home all outside, this protects your property and it could save a kid from trouble if they are blamed for something they didn't do away from the home. It also allows you or their parents to check on the home anytime on a smart phone.

I would provide free cable and wifi, the house would be supplied with a nice but cheap leather couches, you know the thick leather that lasts a long time. Use concrete counters in the kitchen, they are cheap to make, look good when stained and last a long time.

The backyard would get a heavy duty picknick table with a cheap umbrella, some wood beach chairs and a gas BBQ. The yards would be taken care of and a maid service would clean the main part of the house once a week.

There is a strict policy of no overnight guests and no parties in the contracts!

The advantage of collage rentals is you can make twice as much money on the same house! 

Post: Shared driveway woes

Account ClosedPosted
  • SFR Investor
  • Posts 198
  • Votes 61
Originally posted by @Jon K.:
Originally posted by @Rebecca Lebowitz:

I also don't accept or reply to texts from tenants. Texts are for teenagers. It's phone calls or e-mails with mine.

You are missing out on a great tool to stop any he said she said problems, I only use email or texts to record everything from the minute they apply to rent my place. The tenant can never, ever say I did not say that to me because I have a record of it and not a phone call that can't be proved. 

Post: How to add value

Account ClosedPosted
  • SFR Investor
  • Posts 198
  • Votes 61

Out in the central valley California it seems that if a house is just good enough to qualify for an FHA loan it's priced the same as a top notch house by the square foot and beds/baths.

Here in California you have to look for really rough homes that no one wants to make money and then you need to keep repair costs in check.