All Forum Posts by: Mak K.

I am doing my homework and research. I have a opportunity to have a 1 AC lot ( Current price, $190K) in Houston area. I was wondering how should I do high level estimate on cost of construction for homes. Plan is to develop and sell the homes. Usually how many average starter homes 1800 SF - 2000 SF homes can you develop after driveways etc. Also would love to know from other members how much they spent on the last project and what is a good contigency to put on the final cost for a first timer.

Hi,

I am active real estate investor. I am also a realtor which has helped me in the sense it makes it easy to see houses. I do qualify for being a broker which comes with some additional education etc.  I am not interested in actively as realtor to help home buyers but may look into helping investors for buy/sell/lease.

I wanted to hear from you all who were brokers, did it add value? Did you get a advantage and how did it helped. Sometimes I do understand in day to day you do not get advantage, but there is always few instances where you may have felt it just was worth and paid for it to have a broker license.

Doing few roof for single family homes in Houston. Are $300/squares for GAF HDZ good rates. Homes are double story standard homes with around 21-24 Squares. Are $300/Square competitive rates for GAF HDZ. Trying to get market rates. It's my first time for the roof. I understand there are other factors such as pitch etc. but i am trying to get ballpark range. 

Hi,

I did a new roof on a rental property. I am from Texas/Houston. The roofer gave me a invoice with high level bill of material, and a statement that it has 2 years of warranty and brand name of the shingles.

It does not say brand name warranty or model or batch number etc. 

Question What does a roofer invoice consist of? And the GAF shingles comes with 25yr warranty. Do they provide any paperwork or registration etc? Is Shingles warranty worth it or next to impossible to claim it?

If you near retirement, I would just save in stocks and enjoy the dividend while keeping the nest principle.

after certain age, decision making is difficult so stocks easy to manage. Also no hassling with tenant , insurance or calls

Quote from @Srinivas Reddy:

Hi All,

I'm totally new to this so bear with me (acronyms!). We own 2 homes - we live in one and rent the other. We plan to sell the rental home which is valued at $1.8m - $2m. We plan to sell our current house and net $500,000 in proceeds which will help payoff the mortgage on that rental. We figure we will have roughly $2m to make a 1031 exchange so we can sort of live off of it because we are nearing retirement. We don't mind living in a nice apartment!

Is it possible to invest our nest egg (no other income source other than social security and a little bit of 401K) in a safe manner so as to fetch between $10,000 to $20,000 a month. Just throwing numbers out there! A friend of mine suggested investing in a warehouse but that didn't work out.

Any info or ideas are appreciated. We plan to move to LA to be closer to family.

If I am not wrong, per couple $500k is tax free on capital gains on primary homestead home. Since it’s tax free, I would not put it in 1031 exchange. Just sell the rentals and from the purchase price, first mortgage gets paid and difference will stay in 1031.

to me it does not make sense to pay off mortgage on rental and then sell it.

in the end, no matter how you do the transaction, you will have same amount of money left. So just keep both transaction seperate 

Hi

I have a portfolio of 6 sfh all paid which gives a steady income at great rate. For my next move I am debating should I keep doing what I do which is buy another rental ( since houses are bettered priced) or get a land and develop my own projects. I am confident in handling the construction as I have experience

What really matters to me is that are there margins in this market to make money from scratch up? Or would I be ok with another rental and enjoy the income..

Would like to know from people who did their own development and was it a game changer to their business profits?

location houston Texas 

Quote from @Connor S.:

Hello I just rented out a duplex and in the lease I have this clause : 

Appliances: The appliances have been supplied in complete working order. Appliances included are a refrigerator, stove, dishwasher and microwave. The use of these appliances is not included in the rent. If Tenants wish to use these appliances, they agree to assume all responsibility for care and maintenance. Tenants agree to return the appliances in the condition supplied less any normal and reasonable

The tenant emailed me about two days after moving in and said the refrigerator was not supplied in complete working condition and is demanding I replace it ASAP. They say that the temp only goes to 60 degrees and that it needs to go to 40 degrees. 

I was under the impression that this clause says  that the appliances are there but they are not included in lease so Im not responsable for them and that it is their choice to use them or not. She is under the impression that the lease says they are supplied in complete working order and that I need to replace them. 

What do you guys think? I will most likely just buy a new fridge for the place anyways as Im getting very good cash flow on it and don't want to start off on a bad note with the tenants. Curious what everyones opinion is on the matter? 

 I dont think it makes sense to keep a appliance and say if they use it they are responsible. I mean decide upfront, if they need applaince, provide them or remove from the property. You can say firt 30 days, warranty and later its on them may be. What if appliance really malfunctions for no fault of tenant due to age of appliance? On a long run, i would not make appliance a deal breaker. For good tenants, its cheaper to keep them.

How does federal tax exemptions or reductin for hurricane damages work? Texas had some hurricanes and I have properties (Market value $300K, Roof damages $25K). What is the strategy to maximize the tax reduction. Paperwork says depending on Level 1,2 3 the tax is reduced.  Below is article. How do I maximize my case? Anybody done it before?

https://vzcad.org/temporary-exemption-for-qualified-property...

Quote from @Jennifer Donley:

@Allen Moore -Hi - I'm surprised no one has responded.  People usually have very strong opinions about Section 8.

I only take Section 8 and have a portfolio of 27 doors.  I obviously really love the program.  I love it for the guaranteed rent, tenant stability, additional accountability with the housing authority and large demand for Section 8 housing without enough supply.

With strong screening, I'm able to find great tenants and Im not owed any rent.

Cons you will often hear is that the tenants are harder on your properties (doesnt have to be the case in my experience if you screen really well), the Housing Authority is a pain to deal with (this depends on a couple things - how well run your local PHA is and how good you are at handling process & details) and the extra inspections/red tape make the niche unprofitable (see what I said above about Housing Authorities).

Done right, I believe Section 8 is one of the most stable & profitable.  I especially think this is true if you're in C areas (and maybe D areas but I'm not in the those areas). But it's not for everyone.  

If you're thinking of going that route, there is a learning curve.  I answer a lot of uestions here on BP about Section 8 so check out my Forum responses if you want.  I suspect there will be a lot of answeres to questions you didn't know to ask yet!

Good luck.

 Secrion8 says you cannot charge more than rent specified. But all tenants I come across say they pay extra. How do landlord bypass this? Double lease or renting appliances or promissory notes or what?