All Forum Posts by: Phillip Lanier

@Mikel Jennings I'm in an area where the taxes are very high. Like others mentioned, look at the deal and run the numbers. The win is in the purchase. I am paying over $200 a month in taxes for my rentals. But I still cash flow over $200 a door even after CapEx, etc. I am in contract on small ranch with a house that was once owned by Pat Garrett (the sheriff that shot Billy the Kid) and the non-exempt taxes are north of $6,000 a year. Home steaded is $3,000. As a rental, it doesnt make since. But, I found a buyer that I may owner finance and cash flow that way. This will get them the homestead and I don't have to make repairs. Dont give up. Dont get discouraged. Be persistant and you will figure it out. Good luck!

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Uvalde.

Purchase price: $55,000
Cash invested: $60,000

Buy & Hold

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

REO deal.

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

REO auction

How did you finance this deal?

Cash. This will be a BRRRR

How did you add value to the deal?

Paint and carpet with minor rehab.

What was the outcome?

TBT

Lessons learned? Challenges?

TBT

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

No

@Mandi Martinez

Contractors want to become designers!  Don't listen to them!  My wife does all the designs, colors, etc.  Every single time she tells the contractor what she wants, they give her negative feed back.  She simply thanks them for their opinion and tells them to do the work.  In the end, it always comes out beautiful.  One of our houses ended up in the Texas Farm and Home magazine.  And guess what color it was.  Blue!

Here is the article with photos:  http://texasfarmandhome.com/2017/08/11/an-amazing-...

This is the house.

We converted a single story house and put in Nantucket dormer windows and our contractor said it will look ugly and not symmetrical.  He told us that he's the expert and has been doing this type of work for 20 years, blah blah blah.  It's the same story I hear from all the contractors.  

Here is the two story convert:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Blue is is a good color.  Now we are seeing a lot of blue houses pop up in our area ever since we did that first house that made the magazine.  

If you want opinions, talk to realtors and other investors.  They are the ones that have a better pulse on the market trends.  Not your contractor.

Good luck!!!!

[Link Removed by Moderators]

@Karen Rittenhouse

Interesting...  I'm in a small market, the closest franchise is 1.5 hours (San Antonio). 

@Khenkis K. I love that! Great perspective!!!

@Alan Pederson I've had people at work poke fun of me too. They love to give their opinion on why I'm a fool for buying real estate. How, tenants will destroy my property and loose money if the market crashes. I dont feel the beed to explain myself. They don't know I buy low so a crash wont affect me. I just smile and thank them for their "expert" opinon. On the flip side, their are a lot of coworkers that are excited for me and tell me they want to get into real estate too. These are the people I surround myself with. I dont have time for negative people in my life Thanks for sharing and like everyone else is saying, you will have the last laugh.

@Michael H. I'm no expert; nor do I claim to be. But I have been listening to podcasts, reading articles, etc. and I've been hearing good points on a crash, no crash and just a market adjustment. I'm not going to let it affect me on investing now. I think as long as I keep buying low, I'll be fine. If we stay within the 70% rule, and the market dips 30%, we should be fine. If the market crashes 70%, than God help us all. If there is a crash or an adjustment, that means opportunity.

@Peter Hightower I've learned the hard way also. What I've seen is a savvy investor would make an offer and go into an option period to lock down the property, sight unseen. Then they will do the due diligence. Worse case scenerio, they lose thier option money. OR Which is probably the case for SA. People are getting desparate for a deal and don't care if the price is high or inflated. Stick to your numbers and you'll eventually find something to your liking. No deal is better than a bad deal. Phill

@Jay Hinrichs Thanks Jay! BTW, I'm a big fan of your posts! Lol I realized the need in my area. There are two major players and they charge an arm and a leg. I can get it done for half what they charge. I figure I can niche myself with other investors as I know what is important, etc.

@Manuel Rodriguez, Is it peir and beam or slab? Can you elaborate on what needs to be done? I use my own crew for my own flips. I am about to expand out and start offering that service as a side hustle. Let me know if you still need it and we can meet with you to see what needs to be done. Shoot me an private message. Phill