All Forum Posts by: Josh James

@Jonathan Hagan

Contact me if you have any questions too. I am local to Wichita Falls, and will be happy to chat any time.

You could be eligible for the city's first time home buyer assistance program. Then you might pursue a unit where you will owner occupy one unit, and rent the rest to pay the mortgage. There are several posts here about it. This strategy is also mentioned in the podcast a few times.

Joe, I personally would not pick up the deal you mentioned. Look into J Scott and his flipping numbers. He is very diligent about calculating all of his costs.

Remember you have holding costs like taxes, insurance, utilities, and regular maintenance (like mowing, weather damage, etc.) during the holding period. Then when you sell, there will be closing fees. My bet is that you will actually only make 2k to 4k on that deal if you hold it for 6 months.

Is it worth your time?

We refinish all the wood floors in our units. They stand up to the wear of renters, pets, moving, children, and lots of other activities. We do it so much we own a sander and our maintenance crew can finish the floors very cheaply in a unit.

As Carlos said, the 10% cap it limited to your homestead. If you still think the tax appraisal is high, you should challenge it with the appraisal review board. Prepare yourself for the meeting. Bring lots of documentation supporting the value you think is accurate. The cost of a certified appraisal could be recovered ina year or two if it lowers the taxes. Ask the appraiser how they valued the property too. It may have been valued by the rents it brings in.

You have a signed lease? I think Texas allows lockouts, with proper notice. Be sure to post a Notice to Vacate also.

On a side note, I have seen good tenants get arrested or detained before. One of my better tenants was hospitalized, and then detained for some time after defending his (my) unit from a burglar. Shots were fired, and the police had to get involved. I did not know a thing about it until later.

At this point, they are two weeks behind right? It is time for action on your part for sure. I agree with Joe Gore.

I have met this attitude before. IMO it comes from someone not running a business or simply never having ran a marketing campaign before. There are many non-service oriented mailers. Political groups, surveys companies, church groups and others. I have recently started my mailing campaign, so I cannot say I have encountered a lot of this attitude. A friend of mine told me he has been thanked by many people who felt they were trapped in the house. They did not have the money to fix it and list it, and did not have the time to wait for the distressed property to sell.

You also touched on the back taxes issue. I talked to a man a few days ago that was an out of town owner of an estate. All he wanted was to sell the house. He was tired or driving every weekend to clean up the house. He did not want to deal with all of her belongings. He had already removed everything he wanted. It would not list well because it needed major repairs, and it was not in a desirable location. He was done with the property, and wanted a one stop solution. Tell me we are not offering a service to this man.

Every situation is different. Some people have a consumerism mentality for their house. They buy it, live in it, use it, and when they are done, they throw it away. It is just like every other worldly possession. Your family member probably does not share this idea about his property. You will find people that do. There is nothing wrong with either thought process. Do not be discouraged by someone who does not need your services. Your job is to find the ones that do need you.

Welcome to BP! The Texas tax sale rules are very favorable to the buyer imo. Make sure you speak with a title company before purchasing one. There are some hurdles to overcome before you can get marketable title.

Eliza Blue Hey, I am also in Texas and invest in tax foreclosures. You can check the suit brought against the homeowner(s) by the taxing entity. This suit should be filed with the District Clerk, at least that is what it is called here in Wichita County. The suit should (but not always) identify any mortgage lien holders. It probably will not identify other liens like federal or city. There are also services that pull liens of all kinds for a small fee. You may call a local title company to find out what they use, or make a deal with them to sell you that information only. I use Stewart Title, and they will email me a list of liens. It only takes them 10 minutes to run the names through their system.

Hey David Beard, you are probably right. I am in a smaller town, quite far from a large market. The banks here have been very difficult for me to work with. Some refusing to allow any rental income at all. I literally just went through a round of searching for a bank to work with me on this exact problem. I found one local bank, not a national brand, that would give me financing. I am looking at acquiring new properties, not financing existing ones with two years good numbers in place.
All that said I have great records on the few properties I do own and rent out. Most have only wanted my personal income, and have not been interested in counting the rental income.