All Forum Posts by: Martin Vergara

Does anyone have recommendations for local property management companies in Dallas / Ft-Worth and surrounding?
Im trying to get an idea as to the desirable areas renters are looking for in the greater Dallas area (Dallas is so big).

Thanks
Martin

Marco Santarelli great advice on where to start my market research.

Ali Boone your article was exactly what I needed to read.

Thanks for all the Replies!
From past experiences and since I work full time Im leaning more towards a turnkey type approach until such time I feel confident enough to build my own team.

A light bulb recently went off in my head and I am very interested in everyone’s feedback and personal experience.

As Im getting priced out of the Austin rental RE market I’ve been contemplating purchasing in other areas like Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. One thing that has been stopping me is figuring out how to manage (landlord) a property away from my immediate area. Well today I discovered that my goal is not to be a landlord my goal is to invest in real estate, and landlording is not investing. I am willing to pay someone else to landlord (i.e. property manager) and just stick to what I enjoy … investing my money.

So my question for those of you who have successfully invested in out of town areas:
1) If you have a few markets to choose from as I do, how do you go about analyzing which one to hone into?

2) After you’ve chosen a market do you enlist the help of a realtor to provide you with neighborhoods to consider?

3) How do you overcome investing in an area you’re not familiar with?

I want to make sure I make an informed decision before jumping in. So any advice, contacts, resources and online tools you can share are appreciated.

Thanks in advance
~Martin
Austin, TX

Jon you are correct Austin is hot, in my opinion it has turned to a sellers market. I am purchasing my personal residence and was out bid on 4 of the 5 I put offers on all which I found out were for more than asking price and no concessions . I think there are still plays for investors in the rehab and hold as rental, at least that's my plan. Check out Texas a&m real estate website awesome market analysis for Texas cities you can see the growing parts of Austin .

Im here in North Austin.
I pretty much focus on Austin and San Antonio residential properties, sub-2s, property tax loans, pre-foreclosures etc.

Email me if anyone in the area wants to get together for coffee or email me some deals and Ill see if im interested.

Martin

I assume your interested in Dallas County Properties. Here is what the county requires for the auction On all offers of $20,000 or less, the purchaser at a PrivateSale will be required to submit a deposit in the form of a
cashier’s check or money order in the amount of $1,000 or the purchase price, whichever is less amounts greater than $20,000, the purchaser must submit a deposit in the form of a cashier’s check or money order payable to the County for 10% of the purchase price the purchaser will be required to pay the balance of the purchase price within 30 days.
Dont forget most counties require you to sign up prior to the auction and as far as financing find a hard money lender with cash it would be the easiest way.

As of late its been hard to get property at the tax auctions here in TX. You get alot of investors from around the country investing and they have been bidding up prices.
(if you want details on the investment returns here in texas see my other posts or email me Ill be happy to talk with everyone)

I stopped going to the auctions a long time ago. I developed software that searches for home owners whom owe delinquent taxes in Texas and Im sharing it with everyone of course as a subscription.
It works though we have been successful theres just way to many leads for the two of us to handle on our own.

Martin

Tax Deed Auctions in Texas are held on the first Tuesday of every month and are either at the county court house or the counties sheriffs office. You can call or visit the particular county your interested in to find where they have it.

As of late alot of the properties at auction have been getting bid up to its appraised value, not much of a deal there anymore because everyone knows about it.

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Martin

Hey everyone Im new to the forums, I joined because A) I love talking real estate and B) to network and share my business with everyone.

Im a part time investor and full time engineer for a communications company; one day I will reverse those roles.

Ive made my real estate niche Tax investing..I dont go to Tax auctions mainly because well there are no deals there anymore. I seek out the motivated sellers who owe back taxes and the way I do that is by software I developed.

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Email me with questions and comments

Martin

Texas is one of the best places for Tax Auctions, I say that in theory :-) cause Ive seen alot of properties get bid up lately.
Texas is a Tax Deed state and heres how it works. You go to an auction bid on the Tax deed it usually starts off at about what they owe. As the winner of the bid you are entitled to 25% interest on that deed plus any fees and payments you made. The owner is allowed 6months to get their property back (1 year if homestead @ 50% interest)....they pay the price you paid at auction + 25% + any fees and payments you made and they get the house back.....it doesnt happen often.

The Auctions really arent that great because every investor knows about them and if the property is good your going to see it get bid up to almost its appraised value. Never pay more then the property is worth and always inspect if you can.

I make property tax loans and i buy houses from motivated owners whom owe delinquent taxes but I do so outside of the auction.

I have a degree in engineering and I developed a program that searches for every property owner who owes back taxes and it spits out the results in a nice excel spreadsheet. There are just way to many properties for myself and my partners so Ive launched a new website that offers all the contact info of delinquent property tax owners. Use it in your mail campaign or heck cold call or knock on their door.

contact me if you have questions or comments I love talking about taxes

Martin