All Forum Posts by: Paul Ewing

My first was a FSBO across the street. Sign posted on the front fence which is common in the country. Got two houses on that farm and added two more a couple years later. I am in the process of buying another FSBO property about a mile away. Saw the sign out front on my morning walk just before Christmas.

I have several properties on wells and it isn't much of a problem except in winter you need to make sure the tenant keeps a heat lamp in the well house and know that around here wells usually have a 20 year lifespan.  Also it is nice to know what aquifer the well is drilled into.  Many people initially drilled fairly shallow wells into the upper level aquifer and that is subject to more issues with over use.  I am about to purchase another property that actually has an OLD hand dug well (picture the fairy tale wells about three feet across but with an electric pump) and will be hooking it up to community water and putting a concrete cover over the well because of liability reasons.  Most modern drilled wells are 3.5-4 inches across with sealed pipes.

Personally if I was starting out I would get a 2 to 4-plex and live in one.  The other option that I might do would be to do yearly moves to new places after the 6-12 month owner occupant requirement is satisfied. 

I use YNAB Desktop for personal budgeting and QuickBooks for my rental properties. I have tried to use YNAB for the rentals before, but it is just too cumbersome because of the inability to classify income.

I used Excel for years for both and it isn't bad for a small operation.

Have a good house and location at a market price or slightly lower. Take good pictures and have a good description then post to Craigslist and Zillow Property Manager. That has worked for me and usually generates a list of qualified people so I may not have to list another place coming up soon. It helps that I have my parent's places to work with too so we can place people in either person's properties. I wish I had another dozen placed open currently.

no problems renting and I have a wait list of people wanting to move. December/January is a good time because it is between semesters for kids in school. Plus in Texas we don't get the snow they do up North that hampers moving.

This is what I do.  Good rental income because lots of people don't want to live in the city limits but the rental stock is lower.

Same here, but it was my crummy property manager that didn't get the SSN. Very expensive lesson to always get all information possible and to fire crappy PMs. 

It depends. There are a LOT of people mailing in DFW. My parents and I call occasionally to see what they are trying and occasionally laugh out load at the rediculous offers. But then DFW seems to be guru central and every one of the suckers that spent/wasted $500-$2000 on seminars thinks they will be millionaires in a year. Last week we had some wholesaler make us a "Great offer on our distressed property" of $21k on one of my parent's places. This place rents for $1000 a month and we have had legitimate buyers offer $80k+ for it.

What are you calling C class? I consider it to be solid blue collar and service worker homes. I might not choose to live there, but would if needed and have no concern going there after dark to check on something. Crack houses and lots of crime is D class to me and where I won't invest or go personally.

As far as finding cash flow, look outside North Dallas. There are lots of working class areas where you can find good cash flows without worrying about your tenant shooting you. ;)

Personally I invest in sub $80k (usually sub $60k) solid B to C properties. And rent them for $700 to $1200.  I want at least $200 cash flow after expenses and paying myself a $100 PM fee. I invest mostly outside city limits where you have a $40k property next to a $300k place. There are a few pockets of C- to D neighborhoods, but they are pretty obvious.