All Forum Posts by: Peter G.

First time home buyer here, my wife and I recently accepted an offer on our first primary residence. It will require a bit of cosmetic work to get it to be a bit more to our liking.

We are now trying to balance the emotional appeal of wanting to go all in on renovations for our first home and the logical approach to see the best way to drive appreciation and increase the value of the home.

My question is what are the most impactful upgrades we can do to increase the value of our home? Would it be smarter to spend more money on a nicer kitchen or put in hardwood floors? What about deck/roof repairs? And anything that would do with the deck or backyard?

-Currently, it is a 3 bed / 2.5 bath with potential to be a 4 bed if a wall is installed

-outside deck is old and needs repair

-kitchen & bathrooms are outdated

-popcorn ceilings in entire house

-doors and lighting fixtures need replacing

-backyard fence with some broken panels

-roof last replaced 2004

-scattered ceiling patchwork and paint needed

-tile flooring, considering hardwood flooring

Any feedback is appreciated. Thank you!

Peter

@Christopher Campbell

I’ll check out these areas, thank you. And the tips on traffic, can’t thank you enough. I’m very used to traffic in the northeast but am always up for trying to avoid where possible.

Thank you for info on San Antonio, it definitely seems more appealing for buying rental properties as I can get started with less down and start cash flowing. Appreciate your insight.

@Danny Webber

Definitely like to experience downtown, but not necessarily living downtown. Ideally a 10-20 minute commute to downtown area would be good, while getting more house in suburb area. I’ve done both suburb and city life before and am happy in either. Ideally I’d like to find a simple house with opportunity to appreciate for personal residence. For rentals, I’d like cash flow and am not concerned with specific neighborhood, as long as I can drive under 1 1/2 hours to get there.

Thanks for the information, I’ll check out the zip codes too.

Hi All,

First time poster here, would appreciate any input you may have on this topic.

I’m planning to relocate in the coming months from the Northeast U.S to Austin, Texas for work. I have not been a homeowner before, but from what I’ve seen, Texas provides a much more favorable cost-of-living standard from what I’m used too and more attractive real estate market. Since picking up a few bigger pockets books a couple years ago, I’ve wanted to take the leap into broadening my investment portfolio outside of just stocks and finally look to buy real estate.

That being said, the main things I’m considering are: 1) finding a personal residence near Austin, and 2) start off building a rental property portfolio in the surrounding areas.

My questions are: what are your recommendations around Austin to look for a personal residence that is not overbought already and still has room to appreciate? Are neighboring towns (ie Round Rock) more favorable for appreciation? And in terms of rental properties from your experience, is Austin an area that is favorable for appreciation or cash flow properties? What about neighboring cities (ie San Antonio), are these more attractive areas to focus on finding better deals on rental properties now?

Thank you in advance for your feedback!

Peter