All Forum Posts by: Joel Allen

@Alyssa Magyar

The right answer depends on your priorities, as well as the numbers involved.

I'll use some very rough numbers below to explain the thought process, and you can tailor it with your specific details:

Let's say the taxable profit on the home is going to be relatively small...say $15,000.  And you're in 15% tax bracket, you're looking at saving roughly $2,250 in taxes ($15,000 x 15%) if you stay in the home the extra three months (Jan - Mar 2023).  It may not be worth it to be separated from your husband for 3 extra months just to save $2,250 in taxes.

On the other hand, let's say the taxable profit on the home is going to be relatively large...say $150,000.  At the 15% tax bracket, you're looking at saving roughly $22,500 in taxes ($150,000 x 15%) if you stay in the home the extra three months.  That very well may be worth it to be separated from your husband for the extra three months to save the $22,500 in taxes.

I recommend consulting with a CPA to really drill down into what your capital gains tax will be on the sale of the property before making your decision.  There's more to it than just the sale price of the home minus the payoff balance of the mortgage...but the numbers above are a rough outline of the thought process I'd use.

@Hamp Lee III

There’s a solid community here on BP of active duty and veterans that are now doing really great things.  I’m active duty here in San Antonio and also a licensed mortgage loan originator.  We should connect sometime!

There are also some really good podcasts beyond BP that focus on real estate investing by military members.  All are hosted either by Active Duty, Reserve/Guard, or recently separated/retired members:

- Military Cashflow podcast with @Dan Wynn and Mike Glaspie (Mike is a real estate agent)

- The Military Millionaire podcast with David Pere and Alex Felice

- Active Duty Passive Income podcast with Kevin Brenner

@Mellissa Ruiz

You mentioned advertising in some military rental sites, so it’s worth considering the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) rates in Tucson.  The current rates are:

E-4 without dependents: $1,119 per month

E-5 without dependents: $1,257 per month

0-1 without dependents: $1,304 per month

E-6 without dependents: $1,419 per month

E-7 without dependents: $1,497 per month

Granted, service members with dependents get a higher BAH rate.  But a 2/2 bed/bath is likely going to attract single servicemembers moreso than families.

When you factor in that electric isn’t included, your likely renter pool for being able to afford the place may be limited to a mid-level/senior NCO or an officer with a few years in service.

@Allen Wu

Prices have steadily risen across San Antonio since this thread launched a year ago.  What you’re seeing in Schaenfield Place is a reflection of what we’ve seen across the city.  Some neighborhoods that had reasonable price points a year or two ago no longer pencil out as profitable investment areas anymore.

The only major growth and development taking place around Schaenfield Place (beyond the levels of growth we’re seeing elsewhere in San Antonio) is the expansion of Hwy 1604.  Schaenfield Place sits just outside of 1604, so most residents likely use that highway to get to work.  Once the highway expansion is completed, it should cut down residents’ commute time to some of the major employers located on 1604 such as USAA, Valero, and UTSA.

@Amy Lin

Look into Champions School of Real Estate.  They have a large footprint across Texas and physical locations in the 4 largest metro areas (Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio).

They offer in-person and online options. And they offer licensing programs for real estate agent, loan origination, home inspection, and appraisal.

I’ve taken licensing courses through Champions and had a really good experience.

A good friend of mine owns a commercial daycare center and I am amazed at the amount of restrictions and regulations that have to be met for the daycare facility to be in compliance. 

I highly doubt the feasibility of an existing single family home of 3,100 sq to meet the requirements of a 75-child daycare.

Take a look at the Texas Health and Human Service’s 288-page booklet about the minimum standards for child care centers:  

https://www.hhs.texas.gov/site...

Just a few (of the many) complications I see:

1. Childcare can only be performed on a ground-level floor, unless a special waiver is granted. Is your SFH a multi-level?

2. Bathtubs must be inaccessible to children, meaning bathrooms with bathtubs would have to be locked.  This leads to challenges meeting requirements for number of accessible sinks.

3. All bathroom doors would have to be modified to make the locks inaccessible to the children.

4.  The kitchen cannot be used as a passageway, and for that number of children would require a kitchen large enough for commercial appliances.

5.  A daycare for 75 kids will require at least a dozen staff members every day.  Where will all the staff park (not to mention all the parents dropping off and picking up)? 

@Archimedes Jao

Another place to look is Mortgage News Daily. It shows interest rates from various sources and for various loan products (30 yr, 15 yr, conventional, VA, FHA, fixed rate, ARM, etc).

There are many factors that will impact your actual interest rate (including credit score, primary residence vs investment, down payment, points, etc), but the rates shown on Mortgage News Daily will get you in the right neighborhood:

https://www.mortgagenewsdaily....

@Benjamin J Haithcoat

I’d recommend you check out The Loan Officer Podcast, specifically Episode 141 titled “Credit, Credit Scores, Collections, and More”.

The host interviews Mark Teta, who has served as the Regional Vice President of Certified Credit Reporting for the past 20+ years.

He provides some GREAT insight on credit scores, credit reporting, and building credit, and he ties it in specifically with the mortgage industry and qualifying for mortgages.

@Michael Mendez

In my experience, it's not worth it. I had home warranties on two of my rental properties for two years but after running the numbers it didn't make sense to keep the home warranty. It cost approx. $50/month per home (plus a $75 service fee each time they sent a contractor to the home). My observations were:

1. Read the fine print! There were a LOT of loopholes built into the contract of what the home warranty wouldn't cover. Many home warranties require you to pay for upgraded coverage for items such as refrigerators and garage doors. There are also annual coverage limits that cap the amount of repairs the warranty will cover on each system.

2. The contractors that were utilized by the home warranty companies were (in general) not high-quality. The home warranty company wants to repair the issue at the lowest cost, so they choose contractors they can get at the lowest price. When they sent contractors to the homes, I'd look them up on Google Reviews, Yelp, etc and most times they were about 2 out of 5 stars.

3. The turnaround times of the repairs were slow. It often took several days for the home warranty company to get a contractor out to the home, even if the repair was for a critical system (e.g. HVAC stopped working in Maryland in January).

Bottom Line: Instead of paying for the home warranty, I'd rather set aside the $50 per month as part of my monthly repair/CapEx. I can coordinate higher-quality contractors and do it more quickly than the home warranty company does....and after totaling all the costs, I can do it for cheaper.

I agree with @Patrick Drury, and the data backs it up. Professional pictures cost a few hundred bucks, but the ROI is well worth it. A 2018 study by the Center for Realtor Development found:

- Homes with high quality photography sold 32 percent faster.

-  Homes with one photo spends an average 70 days on the market, but a home with 20 photos spends 32 days on the market.

- Homes in the $200,000 to $1 million range which feature professional photos sell for $3,000 - $11,000 more.

Source:  

https://www.rismedia.com/2018/...