All Forum Posts by: Joseph Cacciapaglia

I've spent quite a bit of time experimenting with a couple of these sites lately. There are a lot of interesting opportunities, but also a lot of kinks to work out. I think they're a great way for someone with very little capital to get some real estate exposure and to learn a ton about investing along the way. I also think there is a decent use case for people with more capital that want to diversify their risk, but also want to select individual properties. In the last couple of months I've bought ownership interests in 20 properties and 51 mortgages, all while sitting on my couch.

No. It's relatively easy to sell land with owner financing, and so far I haven't had any trouble with collections.

True. I personally only own notes locally in San Antonio though. I like to really know the collateral.

Are any in San Antonio? If so, do you mind sharing some details of the notes?

Is it a multifamily development? If so you're going to run into the density restrictions for STR. It doesn't apply to MTRs here. We manage over 100 STRs in and around San Antonio, and get very few mid term stays. It probably has a lot to do with our product mix though.

These are two very different markets. Killeen has a single employer that drives the entire economy, which gives it a very different risk profile from San Antonio, which has a very diversified economy. I don't have a ton ove experience in Killeen, but it seems like properties there provide a higher yield than San Antonio. I'm not sure how that works out on a risk adjusted basis though. In the last downturn a lot of the tertiary markets get destroyed, so I've stuck with major markets since then.

I'd check with Broadway bank here in San Antonio. I don't know if they're currently doing this, but I've found that they're generally more creative when working with investors than most local banks. I would have suggested Crockett as well, but I'm not sure what they're like now that Pinnacle bought them. Please keep us posted. I'm in a similar situation with some notes I own on properties here in town.

I've been in the same situation several times, and have always kept the property as a rental. With time, it's worked out very well for me. One thing that I like to think of with the VA loan specifically, is that I never made a down payment, so a negative cash flow is like making that down payment over time. In the long run all of my properties ended up being cash flow positive, but some took longer than others. I bought my first property with a VA loan in 2005.

There are other low down payment loan products that you could look into for your home in San Antonio. Homes are pretty cheap here (I happen to be in San Antonio), so 3-5% won't be a ton of money. It also might just make sense to rent here initially. We have pretty nice rental stock here.

I worked as an attorney prior to my current role as a full time agent. I think it's relatively easy to make a living as an agent, compared to being an attorney. My first year full-time I was in a brand new market with no network and had a chronic disease that meant I couldn't work a ton of hours. I only closed 7 deals that first year for a net of around $48K, but I came close to doubling the next year, and then doubled again the following year. Last year was the toughest in a while, but I still managed to make a very good living with flexible schedule and plenty of time to take care of my health and son. 

I think the key is selecting a niche, and putting everything into that. I've invested in real estate for years, so I decided to only work with investors. With your experience, something similar may work, or maybe you focus on getting deals through estate and BK attorneys. Whatever it is, commit to it, and refer out everything else. 

FYI, I'm in San Antonio, so our markets are somewhat similar. I'm happy to talk more about the transition, if you'd like.

I'm interested to know how you decided on these two markets in TX. They're on opposite ends of the risk spectrum, imho. I like San Antonio a lot, and moved here 5 years ago to be in this market, but I don't think I'd ever invest in Killeen. Are you just trying to get two different risk profiles, or is there some other way you picked these two?