All Forum Posts by: Lance Wakefield

I support the Collin county meet up as well! Wednesday evenings work well for me. I like the Spring Creek and 75 location. 

@Luke MacLean

Hey Luke I am a contractor in the area. I mostly focus in Collin County though, what part of dallas are you looking to work in?

I see buying new homes as an appreciation play because currently you would be getting well under the 1% mark for new builds in those areas. However I do see up sides of long tenants, low vacancy, low maintenance and no to low cap x expenses. Buying existing homes would make more sense for purely cash on cash returns today. However it really does depend on your strategy. 

@Joni F. First of all you would want to check with the city about zoning laws for building other structures. Just because something will physically fit in the space does not mean the city will let you build it. As far as your deal goes 40 miles is quite a distance from Dallas so be aware of that. Lastly as far as the rents vs price goes it seems like the property is over priced. Which is why it has been on the market 284 days. I would put in a lower offer like your suggesting. It is hard for me to tell you how much I would offer with the info I have. Getting the property around 150k would seem reasonable assuming the 1950 monthly income. Best of luck!

@Jason Holden the problem is upscale neighborhood. A class neighborhoods usually don't return much cashflow but they appreciate. B class you get low cash flow and decent appreciation. C Class you get good cash flow and low appreciation. War Zones you'll get high rent to price ratios but after vacancy and other problems their cash flow can suffer and appreciation is very low to non existent. 

So if you want to get closer to that 2% rule you need to look in more working class or C class areas. 

I am no expert but thats what I see in my searches. 

Beware of using an engineering company recommended by the foundation company because generally they have exactly that a working relationship. That is dangerous because they will slap their name on crappy work. Basically their reports can be bogus because that foundation company always pays that engineer so he will pass the work to remain in good standing with that company. This exact thing happened to me with a foundation company in the area so I would recommend always getting something independent to truly check the work the company does. 

@Guylaine Dore

Welcome to bigger pockets! You're in an excellent market to achieve your goals! If I can help you let me know. 

I do work as a contractor in the Collin county area, and know some friends in the Arlington area who do the same thing. If you need help or a bid on a property I would be happy to look at it for you. 

Also welcome to BP it looks like you're pretty new!

Sounds like you have a high debt to income ratio, not a low debt to income ratio. Banks like to see a low not a high. So the best way to change your dti is to simply lower your debt or raise your income. 

Example if you make $5000 a month and have $4000 a month of bills your dti is 80% If you can add $1000 a month of income your dti will change to 66%. EVEN BETTER if you can lower your monthly bills to say $3000 a month and maintain an income of $5000 you will lower your dti to 60% 

So a house hack could be an awesome way to lower those monthly obligations. A 4 plex can often put out enough money to both add to your monthly income AND drop your monthly living expense. 

Best of luck 

@Jenna Thomas

EXACTLY!!! DFW is experiencing expansion, not a bubble and it is simply growing pains in my opinion. Everything will even out as builders ramp up and inventory catches up to demand.