All Forum Posts by: Tony Ma

I went to the free seminar and decided to attend the follow-on 3 day workshop. I'm a newbie to real estate investing so it was a good way for me to get instantly exposed. Having said that, yes it is definitely a sales pitch for an expensive program - basically foreplay before you get into bed. I did not move forward with the Mastery program so I cannot comment, but the couple hundred I paid for the weekend workshop was useful for me. It was this event that perked my interest into REI, landed me onto BP, and now I'm hungry to find my first deal!

@Jeff B. Thanks for pointing out the subtlety in PM commission.  Do you find that the guaranteed PM fee regardless of vacancies is the norm?  I made a bad assumption that the PM fee would be based on collected rent...how else would an owner be able to incentivize the PM to perform!?

@Account Closed I spent the last few weeks looking at Katy as well for the same reasons you had mentioned regarding a good tenant. Katy ISD seems like one of the top school districts in the state that will surely attract a young family. There seems to be a lot of growth in the area (new hospital, new waterpark, etc.) Would love to share notes if you want to discuss further. I'm trying to understand how strong the SFR rental market is given that interest rates and home values remain affordable. Does anyone have any metrics on how long it is taking to find a new tenant?

@Michael Dephier

I was just sitting here convincing myself of your last point re: holding costs being in the noise on a buy & hold strategy.  Perfect timing, thanks!

I was using the BP Rental Property Calculator this evening to analyze some deals in my local area.  I thought the tool was extremely useful, I did not see any place where holding costs could be factored in.  Perhaps I missed it, but I would expect holding costs to be part of the rehab total cost.  That makes the most sense to me, but can someone help clarify?

My mom has a primary residence in CA that is owned free and clear. It is current titled under my brother's name, but her intent is for the home to be left to me and my brothers. We are interested in purchasing a rental property together, but would like some advice for how to use this property for leverage. I'm thinking about changing the title to tenants in common, then getting a HELOC to fund the down payment, then getting a fixed rate mortgage on the rental and holding that property as tenants in common. Am I headed down a bad road? Any advice on how to do this would be appreciated!