All Forum Posts by: Joseph Cacciapaglia

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?

I'm building a single family shipping container home, and it's been a very rough project. I recently sold a shipping container fourplex sold by the contractor that's building mine. I didn't love that one, but there are a couple others in my area that seem pretty decent. Here is one that sold recently in San Antonio. I wasn't involved with this one, but I thought it was pretty decent.

It's somewhat common to have to do a 2nd repair, especially if you're just shopping for the cheapest solution the first time it was done. It's common for the initial repair to have a warranty, but that doesn't usually cover the damage caused by any settling or the second repair.

It's important to address the cause of the foundation issues. One simple thing that many people fail to do is add gutters to their home. A lot of the foundation issues are related to the soil drying out and then getting wet rapidly. Having proper rain water management can help alleviate that. Some people also install a soaker system that essentially keeps the soil moist. 

Some of the most successful investors I know got started by working as leasing agents during college. If you're committed to finishing school, instead of getting involved in real estate right away, a part-time leasing agent job would be great experience. Everyone you meet is a potential client

Heath is right about foundation issues. 

The other issues we run into all the time are properties that have multiple units, but are zoned for single family. These properties seem to get passed off to out of state investors more often than not. If you're not familiar with the San Antonio One Stop Map, you should check it out. It has zoning info. Turn on the flood layer too, because we have a lot of flood zones.

I was thinking exactly what Shannon said about feasibility of BRRRRing with a light renovation right now. However, if you are able to find a deal with numbers that work for you, I'd suggest having your PM run the renovation. We do cosmetic renovations for clients all the time as part of the make-ready process, and/or when they're prepping their former rentals for sale. Any good PM should have the resources to get it done in a timely fashion, and the systems in place to keep you in the loop.

I'm an agent in San Antonio, I only work with investors, and for the first time in several years, I have a more clients selling than buying. Of the clients that are still buying, most are looking for STRs and most of the the remainder are looking for small multifamily. I have a few that are taking advantage of very soft land prices and buying properties to hold for the next cycle.

Opportunities I see in this market:

 - Selling your turnkey STRs or multifamily. Both of these property types still have strong demand for turnkey properties. If you're a believer in a imminent downturn, it may make sense to sell now, unless you plan to hold forever. There is no telling how long this will last.

- Buying and renovating properties to use as STRs. Most of the STR investors that are still active here are looking for completely turnkey properties, which leaves some good opportunities for investors willing to rehab to STR.

- Flipping properties to STR investors. Most of the flips I'm seeing in San Antonio right now are on the low end of the market. There are a lot of larger homes with pools that would make great STRs, if they were rehabbed. As mentioned above, many STR investors are looking for turnkey deals at the moment, so there may be room to flip to these buyers.

 - Flipping land with owner financing. This is a strategy I've started doing for myself this year. Land sales are very soft right now, so there are opportunities to get large discounts. At the same time there is still demand for owner financed land with low down payments from buyers that are looking to hold the land for the next cycle. 

 - Seller financing deals are working for both sellers and buyers today, but finding sellers willing to participate in these deals remains somewhat challenging. There are a lot of buyers out trying to make these deals happen, and I think it's just a matter of time before they become a bit more commonplace. 

- Condos are struggling right now, with an average days on market somewhere around 100 days. We've had a few clients get strong discounts on condos this year, and I expect this to get even better as time goes on. Most are buying all cash.

I started investing in 2005, and invested through the GFC. I strongly believe there are opportunities in every market.

There are quite a few Facebook groups with lots of active investors. I've seen a couple newer wholesalers use those groups to build decent buyer lists over the last couple of years. I know this is a very basic strategy, but it still seems to work.