All Forum Posts by: Jay S.

@Preston L'Ecuyer may I ask what your final decision has been for the prospective property? I am curious what you decided. I too would not take on an investment property unless I was going to see a realistic 8%+ ROI with property management fees included and if the property is in Texas then I'd also bump the known property tax rate by at least a full point.

According to government researchers, Texas is not only the fastest growing State but the projections also have it staying that way.  Which is terrific for those who currently own properties but it may be a barrier for prospective interests.  When local governments have statisticians confirming population growth--and no interest in passing a State Income Tax--then local politicians can be expected to boost property taxes as a way to budget their "great ideas" and other "pet projects" which ensured their elections.  Consider what is happening in Austin recently and how local residents are protesting the higher appraisals which in turn will affect what their local governments will demand in taxes.  I'm not trying to speak negatively about Texas.  I am a native who now lives in Nebraska which is right next to Texas with the highest property taxation ranking in the Nation.  Many local home owners are getting buried by the recent increases in property taxes in the past few years.  I luckily purchased a home for myself that is not demanding that much in property taxes but just last week my taxes went up almost a full $300 over the next year.

But ask I had asked earlier, I'd be really curious to learn what your final decision was--if one has been made.

Thanks for sharing your investment story!

@Jessica Wygal congrats on earning your license.  I'm not an agent but I do use a CRM to manage my prospective leads and related professional contacts.  I use MailChimp because it is currently free and I can easily export my records into universal templates that may be imported into more complex software.

My recommendation is checking out this video by a YouTube content creator in your industry.  The video is only 5 minutes and gets straight to the point.

Let us know which CRM you decide to commit to for your business model.

@Brianna if you are able to speak with a loan officer on this property, then I'd really like to learn how the conversation went and what they needed from you in order to secure the loan for your prospective property.

I'll follow your thread because now you have my interest in learning more.  Thanks for sharing your story.

@Ryan Blake I am curious how the replies influenced her decision?  If I were in her shoes and her budget permitted it, I would use the Legal Zoom option to simplify any future goals to expand her investment portfolio.  I'll follow the thread because now I'm interested in knowing her final decision too.  

@Account Closed glad to learn that someone is looking to find new investments.  I'll preface by disclosing that at the moment I do not own any property investments--yet.  However, I'm interested in targeting Texas markets in the next year if my resources permit it.

I use to live in the San Angelo region over a decade ago while assigned to the Goodfellow AFB nearby. I networked with many of the enlisted who lived and worked there permanently. Most of them--at that time--were primarily interested in SFH because it is a family friendly community--at least when I was there.

If you are locating there for the same reason I was there, then I would reach out to an active duty sponsor who could also share some more insight into the demands of those who are assigned to the base.

But if you are not in the service, then I would quickly sign up to Neighborhood Scouts and gather a report for their micro-markets and their surrounding areas to find the proven places to target.

I plan on following your thread to learn more about how your investment plans evolve.  Keep us updated if at all possible.  Thanks for sharing your investment story with us.  

@Derek Gibbs I'm glad to learn that someone is looking to make their first big real estate investment.  I will preface by stating that I currently do not own any real estate properties--yet.  However, I have learned a lot from others and according to some of the podcasts here on BP the 50% rule should only be considered as one more tool in analyzing value.

Thanks for also sharing the screenshot of your current numbers. It helps a lot in analyzing it on our end. Right off the bat, I ignored everything on your snapshot and went straight to the "Cash-on-Cash ROI" and saw that it is currently listing at 6.16%. Now, if you are asking me if I would consider this property with that type of ROI over 15-years (assuming that is the amortization you stick with) then what other investment opportunities could you compare that ROI with?

On average, taking into account inflation you would do better to invest the down payment that you listed (~$85,000) in stocks which on average can earn investors between 7-10 percent annually.  Heck, if I were in your shoes I'd even divide that amount and invest half into proven stocks and the other half on cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. But that's me because their ROI has been far greater than 6.16% annually over the years.

In summary, I would take some of the advice from the other experienced investors in your thread and consider increasing the amortization to at least 20 years (unless you have a real strategic benefit from keeping it at 15-years) and also boosting the rents to proven market values.

Please consider taking those considerations into account in your analysis and share an updated screenshot of the new numbers. I honestly predict your ROI would surpass 10% and if that is the result and all concerns are also factored in then I know that I'd be interested in the property. I'll be following your thread to see how the potential investment project turns out for you.

I'm not trying to change your mind about earning a higher education but if I had the choice of having real estate debt vs. college loan/debt I'd choose the property debt any day.  That is of course assuming that you are like most Americans and taking out a loan to fund their higher education.

As to your question though, I feel like there is more information that you would need to share. I'm really curious if you will need to bring the potential property up to code. Have you also calculated holding costs if your property will need to be updated and how long that will take? Will you still be able to afford the PITI payments during those months until it is rented? In other words, have you or an accountant done a cash-flow analysis statement on your assets to determine how long it will take until you will be in financial danger by taking on this property?

I also checked and it seems that the State that you want to invest in is also classified as a "Tenant Friendly" region, meaning that your renters are protected by the government in being late on their payments and you will need to wait longer in order to evict them from your property.  I would reach out to a property manager on Google that works that area and interview them about your rights as a property owner vs. the rights your renters will have.  I would also search for other property owners using your county assessor database and see if they would have a chance to meet up and talk about their experiences.  I would be curious as to their experiences in the past two years with new tenants in your potential market.

Keep us updated about your decision going forward.

Hello @Mia Trasolini, it looks like your question has garnered great responses.  I'll preface by disclosing that I am brand new just like you.  No actual invest properties--yet.  While exposing myself to the lessons of successful real estate investors, I was made aware of an online service that may be of use to you called Neighborhood Scouts.  I have no affiliation with them but I visited their website yesterday and now I am interested in subscribing.

I'll admit that at first I did not understand what exactly their service was until I began watching their tutorial videos.  To address your specific question about sketchy neighborhoods, I would consider using this website as an objective tool.  From my understanding, their technology not only is able to data mine the criminal activities in your area of interest but they have annual projections that are considered highly accurate by market investors.  I was personally impressed.

I'll show you what I mean.  Here is a link to their "Crime Data Report" video.  It's only 2:30 minutes long and gets straight to the point.  After watching the video, then I would review their open report for a sample neighborhood in the country. I highly recommend that you watch the video first before analyzing their sample report.  I did it in reverse yesterday and I felt kind of overwhelmed with all of the data they provide in their reports.  All of  the reports have tutorial videos, as well.  I highly recommend them and as I mentioned before, my goal is to subscribe to their service later this month to evaluate prospective neighborhoods.

Please let us know how your first investment adventure evolves!

Hello everyone!  I'm excited to be a part of such a large and experience diverse community.  I look forward to interacting with some of you and learning and growing.

I received information about your community through my good friend and hopefully some day business partner - Craig S. We recently developed the foundations for a business plan and it was then I realized how much potential targeting this industry has on investing opportunities.

I am a seven year native to the Omaha-metro and I love it. My goals are to first learn the methodologies that have proven to benefit investors in the two Sarpy and Douglas county regions and position myself to have more options in the future when opportunities to diversify my portfolio are discovered.

I am looking forward to mingling with all of you both in-person and via the online community. I am excited to socialize with those who have a wealth of knowledge and are just looking for pupils to absorb it all.

Thank you.