All Forum Posts by: Joseph Weisenbloom

PS I should add that all my properties are located in cities outside of where I live. Meaning that when they pull up my billing address on county records they know Its an investment peoperty. This may be why they are trying to rip me off.

I just got my property tax notices and my jaw nearly hit the floor. I invest in Texas which is a non-disclosure state which means to the best of my knowledge the appraisal district is not discolsed the sale price. I noticed an interesting trend within my tax bills. For the properties I bought last year my taxes spiked 50% from the previous year. For the properties I have had for a few years there was no major spike in the taxes. 

Is it just me or do they look for the properties that just had a deed transfer recently and focus on those for tax hikes? I made zero improvements on any of these properties yet I am getting hit with a massive increase. I am obviously protesting these appraisals. Any advice?

@Jacob Pereira@Charlie Chung@Christian Ruiz

I'm thinking a pre-fab house would be quick and easy to put down in the backyard if there is enough square footage. After that it's just hook up utilities and ready roll. Anyone know if there are pre approved site plans from the city that would be easily permitted? 

I think I'm going to call into city hall tomorrow and ask around.

Learn how to sell something. Then work extremely hard selling it.

@Jacob Pereira  I am looking at this as a househack. I would use owner occupancy status so I can get 5% down and then move out after 1 year. Then I can keep it as a rental.  I will take a look at that neighborhood. 

Yea I'm looking at this is an investment and a personal residence. I found a few that seemed like they would make sense from a cash flow perspective but it definitely is slim pickings. I'm thinking it may be easier and cheaper to use some type of prefab home or tiny home. Building and flipping don't appeal to me I'd rather this be a rental.

It appears the only way to make a househack work in Austin is to build an Accessory Dwelling Unit in the backyard. Prices are very high for anything with 4 miles of downtown. 

I'm thinking buy a rundown house in east Austin rehab it and add an ADU to the back. This should create enough rent to cover the mortgage and still be a viable investment once I move out. Maybe section the ADU off and sell it under condo regime.

Has anyone else out there done this?

Any experience with ADUs and the city of Austin?

@Seth Teel This is good information. I will make sure to reach out to the zoning department and see if its grandfathered before I jump through these hoops. I would be applying for a conditional use permit which would allow me to rebuild a duplex on that land if it was destroyed. I have reached out to my lender asking them if a "rebuild letter" would enough to get this past underwriting. They haven't responded yet.

The guy at precinct 1 said that if I can convince the neighborhood association it has a good chance of passing. Like you said its already a duplex no new construction so I'm hoping no "crazies" will shoot it down. We shall see!

@Stephanie MedellinThanks for the input! I am getting the ball rolling on this right now. I just talked to the zoning person for the district my property is in and he said as long as I get the approval from the neighborhood association I should be good to go. Going to be a few hoops to jump through but I think I should be able to pull this off.

Hopefully neighborhood association doesn't shoot down my plan!

@Stephanie Medellin Good idea. Always need to get things in writing. I'm just hoping that a rebuild letter will pass the scrutiny of the underwriters.