All Forum Posts by: Jordan Decuir

@Chris Mason This thread is great and very informative. After having sold my two homes in the past year for personal reasons, I will be looking to buy a 2-4 unit property to live in one unit and rent out the other(s) here in the Houston area. I was initially thinking of going FHA because of the super-high LTV's on them but this is also a great alternative to think about. Thanks again!

I’m looking to purchase a 2-4 unit property in the Houston area, and live in one unit for a period of time (probably a year or so) while renting out the other units. Then, move out and rent all the units out and keep as a rental property long term. Purchase price below $400,000. Where are the best areas to do this, in terms of safety and return on investment?

The November 2018 Houston Real Estate Market numbers are in, and we are still on pace to break 2017's record for total volume. Some key points on the Single-Family segment are:

*November '18 sales volume down 2% from Nov '17

*November '18 median price up 4.4% to $235,000 (the highest ever for a November on record)

*Year to Date, sales volume 4.6% higher compared to 2017's record volume.

*Sales of all segments grew, except homes below $150k

*Sales in the Luxury Home segment ($750k and above) were up the most, 12.3%, in November '18.

Below is the Houston Association of Realtors monthly update (with video) for more in-depth info and commentary for those who are interested: 

https://www.har.com/content/mls

@Ricardo Flores I am by no means a mortgage professional so please bear that in mind. From what I’ve gathered from mortgage folks that I’ve known over they years, generally speaking, 740 should get you the best rates, and each 20-point incremement below that may get you a slightly-higher rate (1/8th of a percent or so for each 20 point drop). This is the way that I understand it but I’m sure each case and lender can differ and markets tend to be fluid over time as well. Based on your numbers, it looks like your LTV would be roughly 71% if the home would appraise for $470k, so you may be able to get rid of the PMI based on that fact alone by speaking with your current lender and being willing to pay for an appraisal. If I were you, I would check your current loan doc’s, and call your current lender and see if you can get an appraisal to wipe away the PMI because your LTV is significantly lower than what is required, probably 80%. Hope this helps. Best of luck to you.

@Travis Buchanan @Jason Perkins @Tony Castronovo There was a new monthly meetup this past Monday evening in Katy that @Ricardo Rosales organized. It is called ”The event in Katy” . I wasn’t able to attend unfortunately due to an illness, but I will be at the next one in December. You can find it (and others) on the Meetup app.

@Jay Hinrichs, while I can't speak on his personal holdings, the data pointed to rental transaction volume in September falling 35% year-over-year, not the average rents...while average rents were down as well, they were "only" down about 4%. 

@Jay Hinrichs , @Account Closed was referring to his Houston-area holdings if I'm not mistaken

@Whitney Breedlove With factors like increasing interest rates, we COULD see a drop in prices or at least a general flattening out in the overall rise in home prices locally, which I would think would be the more-likely scenario. But, the tight inventory in lots of areas could act as somewhat of a buffer, at least in part. I will say that (to me and some of my associates) it does feel like buyers are a bit more hesitant and slower to act, but of course we are now in a seasonally-slower period right now. 

@Paul Sandhu. The tone of your initial post to this thread was very condescending and rude, frankly. @Cassandra Staffieri seemed to have been posing a serious question seeking the collective wisdom of the BP Community, which is an awesome thing. I’m sure that you have some great experience and have some great advice to give. The unfortunate thing is that much of that will fall on deaf ears when you post things with that tone. Had to get that off my chest.

@Account Closed In which areas of the Houston Metro are your properties?