All Forum Posts by: Judy C.

As an investor, I watch my credit score very closely at all times.  It is very important to keep your older lines of credit because they even out the newer accounts to lengthen the average age of all of your credit lines.  The formula for credit scores do not factor in your income.  They only look at total available credit versus total currently owed.  So if you close some of your lines of credit, it not only reduces the average age of your credit but also reduces your total available credit.  This will cause your score to decrease.  I would recommend keeping your older ones open to extend the average of the age of your credit and increase your available credit but keep the amount owed to a very low percentage of your credit limits such as less than 15%.

Beau,  In all of the cases that we have looked at doing this, it never seemed to be cost effective to redo the wiring & plumbing.  We have had great success in allocating utilities to the residents.  We normally do it half by square footage & half by number of residents in the home.  It really makes a difference in the profitability of the investments and encourages conservation with the residents.

Hello all,

      I am a real estate broker with Augusta, Realtors in Abilene, Texas as well as a fellow investor.  The market has tightened, but you can still find good deals if you watch the market closely and act quickly as they arise.  I have a strong and experienced property management team and a great sales team.  We manage 650+ rental units & work with many investors and have excellent references.  It is an advantage to our clients that we are able to analyze & advise investment deals from a property management and investor viewpoint.  We are with our clients not just at purchase but for the long run as property managers.  We are committed to making sure the deals work.  For our out of town investors, we can email listings to preview & then help analyze them based on our knowledge of the rental market.  We can also preview and video the walk-through.

     Abilene is a great place to invest with 7 colleges, Dyess Air Force Base, a strong medical community which creates a high demand for rentals.  Sales prices are still reasonable and average occupancy rates are good.  As always, good marketing is crucial to keeping vacancies low.  Texas trails the nation in percentage of homeownership, so there is a higher number of renters overall in Texas than most other states.  Did I mention that Texas is also predicted to double in size by 2050?

     Anyway, hope this helps.  If we can be of assistance, please let me know!

Joe, I am an investor and also a real estate broker in Abilene, Texas.  The house prices here are very reasonable.  Yes, the property taxes are higher, but you have to look at the entire deal before you rule out Texas investing!  The sales prices are very reasonable, yet the rental market is very strong.  Abilene is the home of 7 colleges including 3 private universities, a public university, Texas Tech Schools of Nursing, Pharmacy, & Public Health &  a commercial college. We have Dyess Air Force Base and a strong medical community and many other things that contribute to a strong rental market.  You have to consider the fact that Texas trails the other states in percent of homeownership so there is a higher percent of renters.    When you compare the sales price vs rental rates to California and look at total income vs expenses, you will see that there are great opportunities here.  You just have to watch the market closely and analyze deals until you find the ones that work well.  

My company offers full service management and maintenance.  We also have excellent references from many satisfied investors.  We manage & lease 650+ rental units in Abilene, Texas so we could give you a good estimate of rental appeal and rates prior to purchase.  We normally email listings for preview and assist with analysis with estimated rental rates.  We preview & video potential investment properties for our out of town investors, too.

Again, I am speaking as a investor, not just a real estate professional.     

They tenants will pay all of their own utilities?  Are they separately metered?  What about lawn care?  Will the tenants provide their own?  If so, do they have a place to store their lawn equipment? 

If the tenants pay their own utilities and they are separately metered, that helps.  Otherwise, the landlord sometimes ends up getting stuck with some utilities.  If the tenants take care of both and the property is well maintained, I would consider it.

I look at Mortgage, Insurance, Taxes,  Management (10%), Vacancy (5% varies), Maintenance (10%?).  Then see what my cash on cash return and cap rate would be.

I think having a good local property manager is essential.  I have seen many investors try to manage from afar and the series of issues that arise.  It is a difficult job even when you are near the properties that you manage and have local knowledge & experience.

For example, we think we have an excellent handyman, but then after closer inspection we find that things are not as they seem.  We may find that their work is not satisfactory.   Or, we receive a bill for getting a property ready to put on the market including replacement of blinds but when we inspect the property, we find the blinds were not actually replaced.  

Also, having someone else deal with your tenants makes it easier to enforce rules.  Most people tend to make exceptions that they later regret.  

I could go on about nightmares that I have seen over the years, but instead I will just say, be careful and pay close attention if you go that way.   Based on the info you mentioned, I think you would have better luck than most!

As an investor who owns a large portfolio, I own a property management company that is set up as an LLC as well as a separate LLC for each large property.

I also plan to set up a Series LLC to hold title to my individual single family rentals. It is set up in separate compartments so that Series A owns a property, Series B owns a property etc. Each series can own real estate and each series is isolated and protected from the others.

  This means if I get sued personally or through my management company, my other assets are still protected since they are owned by other entities.  If something happens at one of the investment properties that results in a lawsuit, only one property and possibly the management company (which owns no assets) or me personally (my personal assets such as home and 401k are exempt in Texas) is affected.  If is a good way of limiting exposure along with a good GL Policy.

Welcome Sean!  You will be a great addition to the BP Community!

We are very fortunate that we live in a state that has not allowed a real estate transfer tax to be implemented.  The majority of other states do have one.  We have been fighting this since the 1950s yet it keeps being proposed by lawmakers.

Fighting against this tax has saved investors countless dollars already and voting for a constitutional ban against future transfer taxes will definitely save investors countless dollars in the future. 

This will be voted on in Texas Saturday 11/3.

It will lower real estate sales taxes each year on primary residences in Texas and will save each homeowner on average $100 per year.  It will also allow seniors and disabled Texans to benefit by unfreezing their current taxes and refreezing them with the new homestead exemption. 

It will also put a constitutional ban on a real estate sales transfer tax.  That is huge for investors.  Most states require a transfer tax at closing.  This would mean someone would have to write a check at closing.  Some states require over 2% of sales price to be paid at each transaction.  This would be a burden on Texans who buy or sale real estate. 

Texas already trails the nation on home ownership-currently ranked at 43 in the nation.  We need to keep it attainable for more Texans to own their own homes!