All Forum Posts by: Julia Stroud

This one is off-market through a family friend who wants to sell it to me, and thankfully is reasonable about negotiating to get a good price. Kind of luck and maintaining relationships throughout the years I guess. Otherwise, I'm usually looking on the MLS for stuff that has been sitting a long time (perusing only for now). I'm still a newbie too, with just a few purchases, and none that were really made with an investor's mindset. And congrats on the progress on your first deal! That must be very exciting and a great way to build skills and knowledge.

Thank you for this context! That is definitely something I will need to consider. What would you (or others reading this) consider a typical rental range for this area. From listings online, it seems like maybe $1000-1400 per month for a 3/2 house, but it's hard to tell with so few listings. Does that sound reasonable, or still too high? 

@Nick Dunin Nice to meet you! I'm glad to hear there is investment activity in Kilgore at least. I grew up in Liberty City, but left for other places and have very little context on the rental market in the area. Thanks for mentioning Reliable Management - I may try to reach out to get their insights about the area as well.

I don't see many houses listed for rent in general in Kilgore. I'm spoiled in Austin Tx, where I can see tons of houses for rent through Zillow to understand the market better. What services do you use to list your rentals?

Hello BP! This is a long shot, but I'm wondering if any investors have rentals working in rural areas of East Texas around Kilgore/Gladewater. I am evaluating a possible deal in Liberty City and want to get a better sense of rental demand in that area. The entire area in general isn't very attractive, but this house is within Sabine ISD, which is somewhat sought after. 

Does anyone have rentals in Liberty City? Or know any property managers operating there? (Or, have done flips there.) Would love to chat!

-Julia

Hi everyone! I've searched the forums for this topic but haven't found anything really from more recently than about 5 years ago. I am a new investor living in the US. My ultimate goal is to own properties in the US, Europe (thinking Portugal right now because I'd like to live there someday), and probably somewhere in South America. My first thought was that it's not a good idea to invest in another country until you are much more experienced, but I'm getting antsy now and want to start sooner. I want to be able to use the properties for my own travel and make cashflow while I'm not using them.

So, I'm curious if anyone has experience doing this and what it is like for you. Looking forward to hearing it!!

A lot of tension here but you seem very knowledgeable about how STR work already. A lot of concerns have been mentioned around if you sign a lease and then can't get airbnb renters for some reason. That seems like a legit concern, but I feel like that's still possible with literally anything in REI. Just maybe have a few backup plans in case it happens.

Everytime I hear people claiming STR will wear the property down faster makes me chuckle honestly. Me living in an apartment for 6 months before realizing my cat was continuously peeing in one corner of the carpet wears the property down fast. Or not cleaning my stove top for weeks and getting seemingly permanent residue stuck to it... Would wear down way slower if my landlord ordered a deep clean every 3-4 days lol.

Hi everyone! I'm looking for some guidance on my first steps in this rehab project. My father owns some residential and commercial properties (mostly unused land) in Shreveport, LA ("North Shreveport") that we are trying to figure out what to do with. The lots are all adjacent to each other in an industrial area of the city, technically part of downtown and very close to attractions like The Boardwalk, SciPort etc (~5 min drive). The residential lots were some of the last in that area before the city stopped allowing them, so they are surrounded by industrial and businesses and just a few other small houses.
A few details to note:

• 3 commercial lots totalling around 16,000 sqft with several buildings that would need full rehab or maybe tear them down and start over
• 3 residential lots ~5600 sqft each with no buildings on them
• Look up 922 Charlotte St, Shreveport, LA 71107 if you want to see the area

We are trying to figure out if we should put housing up on the residential lots, maybe for short term rentals, or try to get them rezoned. They are in a good location in terms of commute to attractions, restaurants, and retail, but are not in a "neighborhood". And what we should turn the commercial lots into, or just rent the land, or put a business there (self storage, maybe?).

I've never done anything like this (with commercial, or in this type of industrial area), so I'm wondering 1) if anyone has ideas or advice on what they would do in this situation, and 2) who should I connect with to further inspect them and make decisions (I'm thinking commercial brokers or property managers)?

I'm happy to provide more details if needed - just let me know.

Thank you!

Julia

@Rick Reeder @Matt Stricklen thanks! That's actually really good to hear since I just bought a primary residence in Manor! This one is definitely a long play. I will keep an eye out in those areas a little more east. I heard about Tesla, but I didn't know about the Amazon building. 

@Ryan Kelly I am open to house hacking a duplex or larger, but I just bought a single-family home in July. So I don't think I can utilize primary residence benefits until next summer (unless you know of some strategies). In the mean time, I figured I might be able to get started with other techniques.

@Jordan Moorhead Thank you!! I like KW a lot too. I help run our LABS program (researching our products with agents), which is what drew me to the company. If you ever attend a LABS session (we are gearing up for reaching out to more agents regularly after MegaCamp), you'll see me there!

@Ryan Kelly I'm not an expert in the neighborhoods here, but I'm thinking mostly east and a little north. I'm trying to target areas that are outside the center of the city and in areas that I think will appreciate faster. Thinking single family and small multi-family (up to 4 units). I made a map with a really rough outline of some areas that seem like they would be good to look in. What do you think?