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All Forum Posts by: Jieh Larson

Jieh Larson has started 2 posts and replied 79 times.

Post: What Ratios in Current Market

Jieh LarsonPosted
  • Investor
  • Houston, TX
  • Posts 80
  • Votes 38

I second @Todd Dexheimer's recommendation. You're playing with fire deviating from your standards. There's the rare find that sits around 1.3% but make sure you check your expenses. Taxes, flood insurance and other expenses will eat into that quickly. A good SFR is hard to come by in Houston, I'm only looking at multifamily now.

Post: Property Management Firms in Houston & Flooding

Jieh LarsonPosted
  • Investor
  • Houston, TX
  • Posts 80
  • Votes 38

http://www.harriscountyfemt.org/

@Hadar Orkibi Here's the map. It's the first thing I look at when an opportunity comes along. 

Post: Impossible to rent a large house in NJ?

Jieh LarsonPosted
  • Investor
  • Houston, TX
  • Posts 80
  • Votes 38

One more note. Turnover times are much longer on these properties. I budget for 3-4 months to find a new tenant. 

Post: Impossible to rent a large house in NJ?

Jieh LarsonPosted
  • Investor
  • Houston, TX
  • Posts 80
  • Votes 38

I have similar issues finding someone to rent a townhome I have here in Houston that's in a similar price range. It's a high end rental in a good area so there's not as many people looking to rent for that price. Houston is also in a slump for rental prices right now due to overbuilding of apartments and the oil slump. Don't lower your rental criteria, that'll cause long term problems that may be more costly.

Here's some ideas you can try:

Keep living in there and rent out rooms individually - You'll be able to manage it while there. Airbnb is also an option

Reduce rent -  Figure out what the lowest you can accept with all contingencies taken into account and slowly step down the price. 

Offer incentives - I had to do this since all the apartments were damn near giving away rooms. I offered 500 off the first months rent or a 48" TV. You can also offer cleaning services, gift certificates...etc. Get creative

Professional pictures - People shelling out that much money for rent want it to look good. They'll be doing their searching online before coming for a viewing. If other similar properties in your area have professional pictures it's probably something to consider to bring more people through the door. 

Make sure that your listing is showing up on all the major websites people use to find a place to live. You can make a quick list of them by doing an online search for rentals in your area. I do fine with HotPads, Zillow, Trulia and Craigslist

Post: Pay Off Card/Save for Down Payment

Jieh LarsonPosted
  • Investor
  • Houston, TX
  • Posts 80
  • Votes 38

You'll be hard pressed to find something with better than a 20.8% return. Credit card debt needs to go. 

You didn't specify the student loan rate but with 900 left on it you might as well knock it off if you can. 

Post: Vacancy Rates- Buy and Hold Rentals

Jieh LarsonPosted
  • Investor
  • Houston, TX
  • Posts 80
  • Votes 38

I've got a townhome on Washington that I can expect 3-4 months vacancy on turnovers. I'm not doing turnovers every year so 12% is a reasonable rate. Also high end rentals are harder to fill and right now rates are in the gutter. It's a bit of forced cash flow with too much equity and is getting sold after the tenants move out (and after the HEB is completed near by). 

My garage apartment in the Heights rents quick, I give myself about a month for turnover to take my time to clean it up and be picky on the tenants since it's in my back yard. I don't bother showing until it's vacant and I've inspected everything. It's also priced competitively to allow me to be picky, I get average 4-6 inquiries a week and 1 showing. 8% is a very conservative rate I use for budgeting. 

Looking at the SFRs in the suburbs seems like there's a ton of them sitting vacant for a long time. I think with the oil downturn there was a rush of people trying to rent out their home instead of sell when they had to downsize or move cities to find work. 

Have a look at what's on the market, the SFRs that have sat vacant for more than 2 months are priced too high. You'll have to adjust with the market and right now Houston is overbuilt so you'll have to drop rent. Vacancy is WAY more expensive than pricing correctly. 

Post: Need multiple lines of credit Bay area Ca

Jieh LarsonPosted
  • Investor
  • Houston, TX
  • Posts 80
  • Votes 38

@Thomas Rutkowski. That was one of the original assumptions I was let to believe when I started. I wasn't too pleased later on learning that I didn't keep the interest. It's still a powerful leverage tool and I've got the level of coverage I want for my family if something did happen. 

Unfortunately I don't think we're helping @Sean Carroll much. What we're doing is preparing today for financing tomorrow. Looking at his goals, sounds like he wants financing sooner. 

Sean, it's stuff to keep in mind once you start turning a profit. All that money needs to go somewhere to work. 

Post: Katy, Tx living and investing

Jieh LarsonPosted
  • Investor
  • Houston, TX
  • Posts 80
  • Votes 38

Katy has good schools and is a desirable suburban area of Houston. If you're looking for the suburban lifestyle then Katy's not bad. Personally I need either the city or the country...can't handle the inbetween. 

If you can find multifamily in Katy that the numbers work for you it's probably a good buy. I'd focus on ones that could house new families that would be looking to put their kids in a better school district. 

Post: Need multiple lines of credit Bay area Ca

Jieh LarsonPosted
  • Investor
  • Houston, TX
  • Posts 80
  • Votes 38

@Thomas Rutkowski

Interesting. I'll keep that in mind next time I'm talking with my insurance guy. I funded WL heavily when I was working offshore and needed somewhere to put my money. It's been working hard for me lately with almost the entire cash value working in my investment properties while I work on a refi to free up the cash value for the next purchase. 

With so high of a percentage going to the cash value are you coming right up to the MEC limits? 

Post: Buying First Property

Jieh LarsonPosted
  • Investor
  • Houston, TX
  • Posts 80
  • Votes 38

Hi @Justin White. Welcome to BP!

From what you've mentioned it sounds like a good move to me. If you're planning on moving into one of the units to take advantage of favorable interest rates for a conventional loan then you'll have to come up with a plan to get one of the tenants to move out. Most do cash for keys, if you search the forums about that you'll find lots of good information. 

If you're counting on the rent to make ends meet then make sure you run your numbers and have a good handle of cash flow as well as contingencies for CapEx, vacancies, maintenance...etc.

There will be a steep learning curve as a first time landlord but you'll get the hang of it. Do your research and make sure you do everything legally. 

Good luck with your potential purchase. Hopefully you can put a post in the success stories once you get it all settled.