All Forum Posts by: Joe Funari

@Audrey Sommer I have been an REI in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area for over a decade. I have been a realtor for +8 years helping out-of-state investors buy and sell here successfully too. The work colleague you mentioned was definitely incorrect.

First, Texas is one of the most landlord friendly states in terms of laws. So regardless of "sentiment" towards out-of-state investors you may have received from your work colleague its incorrect. 

Second, Texas also allows Texas homeowners to do cash-out refinance their primary residence. You as a home owner can use the proceeds as you see fit. Also, you can get a HELOC on your primary residence and use the proceeds to purchase investment properties as well. Because I have personally done both and continue to do it to add to my portfolio. But recommended you also reach out a investor friendly lender. I personally use @Andrew Postell. He is my preferred lender, as well as, fellow investor  too. So connect with him. You did the right thing coming to BP and posting the question. Better to go right to the source. Andrew will give you some great guidance on investing in Texas regardless of your exit strategy.

Also, no counties in Texas prohibit long term rentals. Some cities you need to register. But your colleague may have been confused about Short Term Rentals (STR). That is a different exit strategy altogether. But would recommend you start with Long Term Rentals first. I will be happy to help you with your search too. My contacts become my clients contacts. Regardless of your exit strategy better to have "Boots on Ground" wherever you invest. hope this helps.

@Casi Rice The best advise I can give is become an investor yourself. I have been an investor for well over a decade and working with other investors buying and selling flips and rentals for nearly as long here in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. Its great you have done one flip. But my personal experience investors are looking to a realtor to work with that has more experience. That includes the connections to help them be successful investors themselves. Think lenders, insurance carriers, property management, contractors, etc. You have a much more engaging discussions with clients. Especially, out-of-state investors too that have no such connections looking to invest in Salt Lake City area. I graduated from the University of Utah. Salt Lake City area is perfect for real estate investing. Start small, say apartments or condos. But SFR's would be ideal. Heck, some day I may even be a client of yours looking to purchase a place near the U if my son decides to go there when he graduates high school, LOL. Hope this helps. GO UTES!

@Dillon Hutsell I am a fellow veteran, realtor, and investor. I would suggest you use your VA Guarantee (VA Loan for short) to purchase a home. The VA guarantees the loan. Thus, no PMI. Also, you do not have to put any down payment. VA requires you to live in the property for a year. Then you can repeat the process. Note, you can use your VA Guarantee over and over again. There are some nuisances to the strategy I mentioned. So I recommend you reach out to a VA approved lender that is a fellow investor. @Andrew Postell is a fellow investor, veteran, and lender that fits this bill. Worth reaching out him directly to discuss your options. I would also suggest you look at purchasing a multifamily and live in one of the units to satisfy the VA occupancy requirements. That way your cash flowing the other unit while you live in the other unit. If you want to purchase in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area let me know. I help other veterans/investors purchase here. Hope this helps. 

@John S. Per my door contractor Home Depot and Lowe's have the best pricing on entry doors because of the sheer volume they do each year. But recommend moving forward if your posting on BP be sure to include the city location of your rental. That way you get specific recommendations for your city. For example, if your rental was located in the Fort Worth, TX area (Tarrant County in general) I would also recommend Resdoor https://resdoor.com/ to see what they have in terms of doors. Especially if it an odd sized door that Home Depot or Lowe's doesn't carry in stock and requires a special order. Hope this helps. 

@Stanton Ward Congrats on starting your REI journey. I recommend you reach out to @Andrew Postell. He is a fellow investor and lender that lives here in the DFW area. I have have been using Andrew for many years for my investment property transactions. I also refer him to all my clients as well. I always recommend you go right to the source when you have complicated questions regarding REI financing. Andrew is that source. Also, I would suggest starting out you work with a fellow realtor & investor to help you on your REI journey. I have been doing this for years. My REI team and contacts become my clients contacts. No sense in reinventing the wheel starting out. Good base to start from when starting your REI journey. It will help you avoid the mistakes we have made along our own REI journey. Because we are human and make mistakes. 

@Sean Minihan I always recommend you find a REI group near you that meets regularly. They often offer REI classes are invaluable. Also, at a much lower cost than many of the national "guru" courses. Also, the knowledge in these local courses is much more relevant than the national courses. From personal experience the national courses would always state throughout their training "check with your state and local municipality laws for applicability." I attending their classes locally. So my expectations were not met with the national courses. Whereas, in a local REI meeting teaching out wholesaling the instructor told us specific municipalities not to put out bandit signs or you will get fined. The instructor was speaking from personal experience. So right there I learned the value of local investor courses. Plus, the networking will be invaluable to you as you build your team. Also, I suggest moving forward when you post on BP let us know what city your looking to invest. Because you will get recommendations from other investors too. I work in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. DFW REI Club is the one I recommend to local investors starting out. Great networking and various courses and meetings to help you on your REI journey: https://dfwreiclub.com/

@Natalie Johnstone I would strongly recommend you work with an agent that is a fellow investor like myself. That way you get specific feedback from that agent as to the best areas to purchase regardless of your exit strategy. If your looking to purchase long term rentals low crime, proximity to amenities, and good schools all factor into that. But the rents for the area are driven by these factors. Agents are able to pull demographic reports for a specific address for you as well. But TBH I focus on the rents that particular property brings in. The better the rents the better the aforementioned factors that drive that. Hope this helps you in your REI journey.

@Daniel Becker @Tina L King Mike Dymski is absolutely correct. Start with an agent that is a fellow investor like myself. I am more than happy to share my preferred lenders that specialize in investment properties, home inspectors, contractors, landlord and builders risk insurance carriers, and CPA's that know to do cost allocation studies with my investor clients (that's how you know you have a CPA that knows real estate investing accounting). In short, all of the people that you need on your "team" that I have used personally, as well as, many of my clients for many years. No sense in you having to reinvent the wheel. Focus first on making sure to you have the cash for down payment and closing costs. That is the biggest hurdle that beginner investors have when starting out. Finding the right property regardless of your exit strategy is the job of a seasoned agent that is a fellow investor. So I got you covered there if you ever want to invest in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. Hope this helps. 

@Jessica Cooper there are no areas that are "too saturated" with investors here. There are plenty of properties to pick from that meet the criteria for a good investment property here. Any given time I can find some +150 SFR's for my clients to choose from. A lot of new construction and steady growth ensure the demand for both investors and owner occupants are met. Regarding multifamily insurance it varies greatly the price depending on the number of doors, age, and location. Too many variables to pin down a number. But you can get a quote once you go under contract. I recently purchased a duplex and the landlord policy $3K per annum.

@Jessica Cooper I personally invest in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area in both single and multifamily homes. I also help other investors buy & sell in the area too. Property taxes are high compared to other parts of the country. But I always advocate to my clients to protest tax valuations every year as they get reassessed annually. I go into more details about strategies to protest with my clients as well. Landlord policies are averaging around $1800 per year for a SFR. But you only need flood insurance here if a property is in a flood plain per FEMA. But so many properties available right now that are not in a flood plain. So easy to avoid the additional expense. Only complaint others have about investing here is the property taxes. Upside is rents increase every year from $25 to $125 per month, valuations increase steadily, and Dallas/Ft. Worth has a diverse of industries here. So less impact on job market if one industry goes down. There are always good & bad areas to invest in any market. Which is why you should work with a realtor, and preferably, a fellow investor to help you find rentals in areas that have decent rental returns, etc. Especially if you are investing out of state.