All Forum Posts by: Jerel Ehlert

I started as a real estate investor in 2000 and went to law school after the crash.  My practices is real estate, securities, business, and corporate finance.  Syndication paperwork is NOT the place you want to be cheap.  If something goes wrong, remember your passive investors have capital to hire lawyers, too.

Figure $15K for a fairly generic private placement.  Getting fancy with different classes of passive investors, convertible instruments, elaborate payout waterfalls, or complex conditionals will add costs.  Additional services like drafting or reviewing your deck or financial modeling or coaching your pitch are also added at additional cost.  And while I don't offer a free consultation, it is at a lower hourly rate and I am willing to chit-chat for 10-15 minutes at no cost to see if we have a fit.

In Texas, if landlords have not availed themselves of some part of the $1.8 Billion set aside for rent relief, they are fools.  Here is a link to the Texas Eviction Diversion Program: https://www.tdhca.state.tx.us/... and some info from Texas' judicial branch: https://www.txcourts.gov/progr...  Landlords can get rent going back to March 2020.

I handle a fair number of Texas tax foreclosure related cases.  Texas is a tax deed state - bidder is getting a sheriff's deed if they win the auction.  If the foreclosure sale amount exceeds the amount owed to the taxing authorities, the excess proceeds (as it's called) sits in the registry of the court.  If the property was the former owner's homestead, the statute of limitations is 2-years.  Otherwise the SoL is 6-months.  The limitations run from the date the deed is recorded in the real property records.

There's about 3,000 more words to fully describe this process, but hope it's close to what you're looking for.  I can't say for other states, only licensed to practice law in Texas.  Feel free to reach out if you want to know more.

@Mike Reynolds I've had similar experiences with courts and clerks when they see my office address doesn't match their county.  Getting "home towned" is ********, that's for certain.

Arbitrary inspection process *is* a violation.  To stop inspectors from applying arbitrary standards, that is a complaint then a lawsuit but no builder, developer, or owner wants to pay the legal fees to make them stop.  Until that happens....

As for Austin zoning, they've been working on making it better for years.  But with any endeavor involving more than a few people, they can't get enough people to agree on what the new code should be at the same time to pass.  For everyone complaining about it, get involved in the process but be willing to reach a compromise.  But if all people want to do is stand outside and complain, I don't have much sympathy.  2020 prevented just about all work on the new zoning, but should be picking back up by now.

@Aaron Gordy Not to make lite of a tragedy, but we don't see condo buildings collapsing or drywall with built-in fungus in Austin.  If builders and owners were equally concerned with health and safety as they are with profit, there would be fewer "heavy handed...restrictions" and the construction industry would be allowed to self-regulate.  The restrictions you complain about not only keep consumers safe but also shield (in part) builders from liability.

I agree with the overall assessment: the economic fundamentals in Austin drive supply/demand and elevate the equilibrium price of housing.  The drag is always going to be wages.  It doesn't matter, for the most part, what the demand or supply might be if people cannot afford to buy.  But putting more inventory on the market, even new/high-end product, will take pressure off prices across the board.

Find a different lender. Probably just the restrictions on the loan products that particular broker had access to at the time. Keep in mind that NOO has fewer restrictions that Owner Occupied, so make sure the broker is looking at the right matrix.

You are 1000x better off selling on a wrap (if there's underlying financing) or straight owner financing if you own free and clear. These are way to easy to screw up and most default under L/O.

Depends on where in Texas, but generally if it is just a lease violation without claims for rent, standard eviction.  Those who know how to play the game can drag things out for a year (no COVID issues).  Cash for keys is your best bet, then any kind of health code violations if a municipality cares.

If not already mentioned, go to some of the larger networking events in REI groups. Most will have one or more HMLs as sponsors who readily publish their rates. You can also do the same by going to a website, but you find lots of noise/trash sites.

Your biggest variance is going to be in the rest of the loan terms.

BTW, networking events is also where you will find borrowers.  Sure, you could post your own website, but you get lumped into the same category of noise/trash.

EVERY county is different as far as what is free for unofficial copies (Harris County, mostly) and what is pay-per-view (lots) to SOL for web access (many more).