All Forum Posts by: Danielle Scott

I just purchased a home and want to rent out one of my spare bedrooms to a traveling medical professional. I’ve done this numerous times in the past with rentals and had a good experience but now that I have my own place I want to take some extra precautions. Since this is going to be a house share I want to have a way to ask them to leave if they end up being terrible or don’t pay the rent and also want something that covers their personal belongings since many travelers don’t have renters insurance.  Basically I want to be covered with all the intricacies of this specific situation. Would you use a standard month-to-month lease for your state or would you get a lawyer to draft this up?

@Ethan G. So they market for Joe Schmo builder who can build using the lowest quality that will pass inspection?

I hear this builder has a bad rep around the Houston area for "bad quality" and lawsuits. I have a few friends that just moved here who have been looking to buying their new builds. Haven't heard anything past very vague, but consistently bad, feedback. Anybody know any specifics? I looked up their builds and the finishes look really nice. 

I've also had wholesalers send me deals that don't make sense at all with bogus over inflated ARVs. After doing the #s it was a 90% ARV "deal".

I'm in the process of buying a fixer upper and I know demo will be a huge process. I've talked to a few investors who are demoing houses that say they don't always get permits. They said depending on the part of the city and whether its monitored by city permit people depends on if they'll get the permit. Obviously they're taking the chance here and hoping they won't get caught. What happens if you do get caught? This seems like if you get caught you're screwed and will have to pay a bunch of fines.  How could they get the dumpster and not be found out since the dumpster is a dead giveaway theres reno going on inside that needs a permit? Hide the dumpster and hope no nosy neighbors spot it? They also said they try to hide the work going on as much as possible and avoid permits when they can as the city is strict on who can perform the work, as they have to be licensed and insured. I'm thinking the crews they use are not. Wouldn't this cause problems down the road when you go to sell the house and it looks completely different than previously or would nobody know? 

First of all, I want to thank all the locals who've helped and reached out to me. I've been posting a lot lately trying to figure out how to buy my first property and not get burned. The plan is to buy and hold while living in it and potentially renting out the spare room to traveling medical professionals intermittently. I've done this before and it's worked out great.

Houston's inner loop and close to inner loop market is really hot right now with the rates being so low. I haven't been here that long so don't know the area well enough to say this area will appreciate and this one won't. I'm looking in northside, eado, third and fifth ward. Seeing a lot of things pop up in 5th ward but from what I've researched there are no plans to bring any bars/restaurants/grocery stores/other things that would turn over the area. I drove by a few new constructions yesterday and would not feel comfortable walking my dog in this area alone or at night, which leads me to believe other young people like myself would likley feel the same way.

Second part of this is when do you know if a property is worth the flip? I understand the numbers part of it but are there some issues you won't touch? For example if the house has termite damage, foundation issues, or mold would be a no go but new plumbing and updates would be OK?  What do you look at if the numbers or right to determine if a property is worth it for you to flip?

I thought about the NACA process as well. This may be a small thing, but I didn't like the idea of being forced to volunteer 5x a year for the life of your loan without it being specified what volunteering or the duration of time you're expected to be there. No one wants to work 40+ hours a week then go into a different office to do clerical work on a Saturday. This would become quite burdensome and tiring for me personally, but everybody's different. And you can't rent the property out either. If you want to move you have to sell. It would be a great plan for someone that doesn't mind the volunteering or they have a spot where they want to live for the next 30 years but I'm just not at that point in my life.

I'd also be interesed in hearing more about these overpriced HAND contractors that you're forced to use. It sounds like because youre forced to use them, they have a monopoly and will overcharge you for the same work you could find someone else that's not HAND to do for less. Maybe an upside is HAND oversees these contractors so you wouldn't have to micromanage them. 

Looking to buy my first home in Houston and am overwhelmed by all the options for lenders and title companies. For the lender, one has given me information on mortgage credit certificate programs, down payment assistance programs, and another called seth goldstar. I've discussed with a few others and only one does programs like these - essentially they have no info on what options I might have besides a conventional loan with 3-20% down. I'm a little bit wary of the one lender that gave me all this information that seems too good to be true and he has something to benefit by me using him. On the surface, it looks like I qualify income and credit score wise. I have the money for a 10% down payment but that will be all my money with none left over for repairs or things that need to be updated. I'm worried of getting trapped with a ton of money I have to pay back if I don't fully understand these programs. Looking to educate myself and a neutral third party's opinion. 

I'm looking to buy a fixer upper single family or condo and live in it while renting out the spare room for extra income towards fixing up the home. I plan to stay for at least 5 years, which seems to be the only catch according to the lender on using these programs. I don't know what kind of questions I should be asking these lenders. Help! 

I'm looking for my first house and plan on renting out the extra bedroom part of the time - airbnb or traveling medical professionals mainly. Should I consider setting up an LLC and titling the property in its name? The limited liability benefits are appealing but mainly want it for the rental payments. If the mortgage payment and any repairs are paid entirely out of the LLC and the tenant's rent comes to the LLC and not me directly wouldn't this be more tax beneficial? My understanding it that the LLC would be at a deficit and I wouldn't have to claim the thousands extra in rental income and put me into a higher tax bracket. In the same vein, should I pay a lawyer to draft up an ironclad lease agreement for these types of short term situations or just use a standard form found online??

I am a first time home buyer in Houtston Texas and through a realtor learned about some kind of assistance in the form of money back if you stay in your home five years. She wasn't specific and not my personal realtor - just someone I had a conversation with. I have excellent credit, would likely qualify for the income cap, and have at least 5% for the down payment. When I google I can't find any solid information and my personal realtor nor my loan officer know anything about it. Where can I find information on this?