All Forum Posts by: Pete Harper

Jim, interesting data.  Can you please post more details. Like David says it would be great to see the underlying data. For example Travis county might have had three foreclosures last month and four this month. That would be a 33% increase. 
Do you have the numbers for Brazos County. I’d be interested to see how BCS is doing. 

Howdy and welcome to BP!  If you are just starting out a duplex is a good way to start out. Live in one half and rent the other half. Let the second side pay your mortgage. I recently purchased a duplex in BCS from a grad student was house hacking. He still sold out after he graduated and made a nice profit. 

@Tashfeen Islam I can see part of your problem. This is one of the worst neighborhoods in Killeen. Look at the crime report on Trulia. Your property is in the middle one of the highest crime areas in Killeen. When you drive through this area you will see a bunch of closed stores and businesses. I would avoid anywhere north of Rancier in old town Killeen. The better areas are on the South side of town, East towards Harker Heights or West towards Copperas Cove. If you buy more properties in Killeen be very careful with location.

Where in Killeen is the property located?  Some of the north Killeen neighborhoods can be rough. $650 for 3/2 is well below market. I’m getting $650 for 2/1.5 in Killeen near Harker Heights. 

I would highly recommend Johnny Horton with NextHome Realty. He has helped us buy two multi family properties in BCS. PM me and I’ll send you his contact info. 

Killeen, TX

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Palestine.

Purchase price: $22,000
Cash invested: $6,000

Single Family Home

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Texas Sheriff’s Tax Auction

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Public notice from county.

How did you finance this deal?

Cash

How did you add value to the deal?

New roof

What was the outcome?

Looking to sell to current Tennant after 6 month redemption period.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Discovered after auction that property needed new roof. Substantial water damage inside. Need to do a better job on due diligence inspection. This is difficult when you can enter the property.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Live auction

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment in Killeen.

Purchase price: $205,000
Cash invested: $3,000

4-plex. 2BR/1.5B townhouse.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Cashflow

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

MLS, buyers agent

How did you finance this deal?

Private money lender

How did you add value to the deal?

Comps and Cashflow

What was the outcome?

We have done light reno on two of the four units. Paint, flooring and microwave ovens.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

This was our first experience with “professional” PM. We are pleased with their service. Communication is horrible. Plan to find a better company when our contract runs out.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Ashlyn Runnels was terrific. We plan to use her again on other deals.

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment in Killeen.

Purchase price: $205,000
Cash invested: $3,000

4-plex. 2BR/1.5B townhouse.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Cashflow

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

MLS, buyers agent

How did you finance this deal?

Private money lender

How did you add value to the deal?

Comps and Cashflow

What was the outcome?

We have done light reno on two of the four units. Paint, flooring and microwave ovens.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

This was our first experience with “professional” PM. We are pleased with their service. Communication is horrible. Plan to find a better company when our contract runs out.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Ashlyn Runnels was terrific. We plan to use her again on other deals.

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $97,500
Cash invested: $10,000

2/1 Duplex near Texas A&M in Bryan.
This was my wife and my first serious Cashflow investment.

We put a fresh coat of paint over the ‘80s style avocado walls. Painted tired kitchen cabinets a bright white. Added microwave ovens as upgrade.

My wife and I enjoy fixing places up so we did the majority of the work ourselves. We hired a roofer and the flooring. I plan to look doing flooring in the future.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

We are retired, looking for long term cash flow.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Found on MLS, negotiated with buyers agent. We were able to get significant price reduction using inspection report.

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional loan, 30yr fixed, 25% down.

How did you add value to the deal?

New roof, rain gutters and full makeover inside.

What was the outcome?

Long term hold for positive cash flow

Lessons learned? Challenges?

My wife and I enjoy doing our own renovations. We get a nice sense of accomplishment making something better.

On renovations we learned painting tired old kitchen cabinets is a low cost way to spruce up a kitchen. We also learned the over oven microwave are a nice upgrade for these tiny galley kitchens.

We learned not to trust neighbors for renter references. We have had a bad experience with first Tennant. Police were called out the first month, habitually late on rent. Plan to evict.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Johnny Horton was our agent. He is the best! Plan to use him again.