All Forum Posts by: Joseph Weisenbloom

@Seth Teel @Rick Pozos @Jason Hirko@Brian Phelt @Robert Melcher

Guys just wanted to give you an update. Did some digging into rental criteria and this is what the PM told me. They accept less than perfect credit, most criminal backgrounds (non-violent), they don't do section 8, don't use craigslist and require US residency status. Considering San Antonio is half illegal immigrants that may be why the house has been shown 15 times but no applications. 

The kicker of the conversation is that he said it takes them typically 6-8 months to find a tenant in this area!!! I have come to the conclusion that this the wrong PM for the class of tenants that I am trying to reach. I have another property that is in a B area and they were able to rent it in under a week. Long story short I am going to start interviewing PMs that are more experienced with this class of tenant.

Guys I know this thread is a few months old but just wanted to drop some important information. Apparently over the summer there was a rule change on how properties are classified and billed through SAWS. Any property over 2+ units is considered commercial and is billed at a higher rate. If you look at your bill the majority of the hike is for a "aquifier preservation". 

Any one else have any more information on this?

@Seth Teel Wow good advice. I thought about that the other day if I was looking for an apartment the MLS would be the last place I would check. Craigslist is the one I would use. I will call my PM tomorrow!

@Rick Pozos Yea that makes sense. My PM lives across town and it is a bit of a hike for them to get there. I will look into alternate options tomorrow.

@Rick Pozos The duplex is right across the street from Miguel Carillo Jr Elementay School near the corner of SW Military Dr and New Laredo Hwy. It wasn't a turnkey. I bought it off the MLS for cheap put 20k into it. It is fully rehabbed. Currently listed at $550/mo

@Brian Phelt I agree 4 months is ridiculous. They are showing it via the MLS and the PM website.

@Jason Hirko We originally had it listed at $650 then lowered it to $600 and then lowered again to $550. The property is undermarket which leads me to believe that my property manager may be the one screwing this up.

@John Thedford They are marketing it via MLS and the PM website. The property is in good condition just rehabbed interior, replaced siding and leveled foundation. I am a bit perplexed why it is not renting which is why I appreciate everyone's feedback!!

I have a property in southwest San Antonio near Lackland AFB that my property manager is having trouble getting rented for 4 months. Its a duplex with 1 bedroom units. We have lowered the rent twice and my PM claims they have gotten lots of calls but no applications so far. Whenever I ask him why its not rented yet he says that this is normal for this neighborhood.

The neighborhood isn't a warzone but I would classify it as a C neighborhood. All economic indicators point toward strong rental demand in San Antonio. My research shows vacancy rates around 10% for these types of properties.

My question is this normal for this area for a unit to sit vacant this long? Or is it time to fire my property manager?

Anyone here have experience separating out water utilities in San Antonio through SAWS? I'm talking about adding another meter so the tenant is responsible.

I called in the other day and the guy on the phone said it would be $5000 just for the meter. This seems outrageous considering I've had the pipes separated out and meter installed in other municipalities for under $3000.

Thoughts?

So I am trying to close on this deal and I am running into some roadblocks with the financing. The lender is refusing to finance because "I have too many vacant units" 

One property we just aquired is still being rehabbed, the leases are expiring soon in another property and the property I am trying to aquire is vacant. I have sufficient income and I would have no problem paying for the vacant units while they get stabalized. I also have siginificant reserves for this kind of situation.  Filling these units should be no problem at all just bad timing.

Now they are telling me that the only way to close the deal is hard money which I would rather not use. Paying 3 points for a loan that I most likely will refinance in a month does not sound fun. In all honesty I would rather bring 6 months of payments to escrow than throw my money away on points.

Anyone run into this situation? Any solutions out there?

@Jake Knight Hahaha Fair enough. Don't mean to totally bash underwriters they are certainly nessasary to getting the loan done. Everyone does strange things sometimes. That being said everyone here is a real estate investor so I wanted to see if everyone was dealing with this same situation.

@Max T. Of course standard procedure ;)

@Russell Brazil Oh wow a letter for a property you don't even own?! Thats crazy