All Forum Posts by: Paul K.

Quote from @John Patterson:

@Paul K. As a student in college with 3 roommates, living next door to railroad tracks(as close as 200’ ) , it never bothered us. I found that this house was a bit under market , but we never complained about the noise. Heck, we used to crank up our stereo and rock on. College kids and kids in that range ( 19-28) are usually looking for a dependable place to crash, and to go to work or school. The train track will not be an issue.

Awesome, thanks for sharing your experience John! Yeah it didn’t bother me too much. If I can break even I’ll get it off my hands but if not may hold onto it a bit. Thanks again.

Quote from @Naz Hossain:

So i've lived in a place as a tenant near the rail road. In San antonio itself actually. It's not that bad. It's not like the train comes every hour.. you can still make it a short term/mid term rental. Probably not to travel nurses but definitely to other professionals

The first thing I would do is fire that agent. Knowing that you are out of state - they should know better than to just worry about their commission. They have a fiduciary. What brokerage is this again? 

Thanks for the insight Naz. Very helpful. When I stayed there it honestly did not bother me too much but I am a heavy sleeper. It was simply an annoyance during the day. I could see it being an issue for many others though, especially when there are many other crashpad options in the area that aren’t near a train. 

I think I’ll do what Caroline recommended and list it this weekend. If it doesn’t sell within 30-45 days then I’ll continue looking for tenants and try again later. 

Appreciate everyone’s help and recommendations!

Quote from @Caroline Gerardo:

San Antonio market is solid and upward. Not sure why you bought furniture for a house you didn't plan to move in (short term rental?). If you used a VA loan it's a problem.

Two choices:

1. Get a great tenant with perfect credit who has poor hearing. 

2. Sell now. (forget what you paid for furnishings) List it for $303,000 see if it sells in thirty days. Sign listing agreement only for 45 days. Start advertising for tenants on day 30 then rent it on day 46 if you don't get a cash offer. 

Yes, fully furnished short term rental, conventional 20% down. 

That’s a great idea, seeing if I can sell now and if unable, continue looking for tenants. I would lose a bit of money to fees but may be able to recoup some furniture costs. 

Thank you!

I appreciate your thoughtful response. Like I said, ultimately the responsibility is on me as the buyer. But the realtor is a crucial part of the team, especially when acting as boots on the ground for an out of state investor. Definitely a lot of lessons learned for all involved. 

The focus is on what I will do about it going forward. That is a good recommendation about talking to others in the neighborhood! I will definitely do that next time I’m down there. 

As far as disclosing the noise, likely not required but my intent is not to have tenants move in and them finding out that night that the train blasts its horn so I plan to fully disclose before they apply. 

Does anyone have any experience with a rental near noise concerns (airport, trains, etc)?

tldr: bought rental property sight unseen due to military orders and buying out of state. Realtor failed to mention that there were train tracks and a railroad crossing right behind the house. Found out after I closed and showed up to furnish the place. Strategy was to use it as a fully-furnished crashpad but may need to flex to rent-by-the-room or LTR.

Hey BP Family,

I recently purchased a rental property in San Antonio. I used a realtor I found on here to purchase the place. I was on military orders and unable to view the property so I ended up buying it sight unseen after my realtor did a walkthrough and helped me vet the place. The closing process was uneventful and after the holidays, I showed up to furnish the property. Driving up to the property, I noticed a railroad crossing near the neighborhood. I thought that was odd and that turned to horror as I realized the railroad tracks were right behind my property. 

Over the course of a few days I furnished the place and found that the train would blast it's horn multiple times throughout the day and night. I contacted my realtor asking why the tracks were never disclosed. I Google Mapped the distance and it was showing 0.8 miles. My realtor said that since it was about a mile away, he was not required to disclose since it doesn't materially affect the property. I realized I was measuring it inaccurately and as the crow flies, the tracks are actually 0.1 miles (~400 ft) from the property. Once I told him this, he said he didn't disclose it because it wasn't part of his checklist. He offered to pay to install soundproofing curtains if I bought them, but shortly ceased all communication with me after I took him up on his offer. 

I get it, due diligence, buyer beware, all that. Ultimately my responsibility but that is what realtors are there for. He literally drove to the property, passed the railroad crossing, saw/heard the train, yet failed to let me know.

I was luckily able to rent it out as a crashpad for a few months to people I knew, but they are moving out in May. They definitely let me know frequently about the train noise and I did everything I could to make their time there tolerable (white noise machines, Bose Sleepbuds, etc). 

They are moving out next month and I highly doubt I will be able to find/keep any quality tenants due to the train noise. My initial strategy was to use it as a crashpad but now open to renting by the room or LTR. I feel like my only saving grace was that I knew the people I rented it out to initially, not sure if it would have worked had I not known them.

Soundproofing beyond curtains, white noise, etc. is incredibly expensive and will not completely reduce the train horn. I reached out to the city to designate it a quiet zone but that process is lengthy and costly, and they said that conductors would still likely use the horn due to the location of the crossing. I reached out to a different realtor who said if I were to sell, top of the market would be around $295k. I'm all in currently for about that much with furnishings, repairs, and installing sod. If I were to sell, I'm guessing it would be about a $30k loss (fees etc).

My question is, what are my options for attracting quality tenants despite train noise? I know I will have to reduce rent and disclose the noise to all potential tenants. What do you all recommend? Would love some advice.

Thank you!

Thanks for the info! That’s been my experience as well. I decided to go with a cash out offer and replace the entire unit. 

Hi BP Family,

I have American Home Shield for my current househack. One of the two HVAC units didn't seem to be working and since it's starting to get warm in TX, I quickly submitted a claim through AHS. The technician came out yesterday and determined that there was a bad 4-ton evaporator coil and a few other parts.

I received a notice from AHS saying that only some parts would be covered. After speaking with them on the phone, they were saying that because the repair included items that needed to be brought up to code, they would only be covering $250, citing the following from my contract:

"14. Certain other Covered Item dollar limits:

m. As part of any other applicable Covered Item dollar limit, AHS will pay up to two hundred fifty dollars ($250) total per Agreement Term to correct code violations and/or upgrade to current code requirements when completing AHS-approved repairs or replacements of Covered Items. If AHS is unable to diagnose whether a Covered Item malfunction exists due to an existing code violation, this code violation coverage shall not apply, and you are responsible for correcting the existing code violation in order to allow AHS to conduct such diagnosis."

My interpretation of this is that in addition to the repairs/replacements, if there are codes that need to be corrected or upgraded, AHS will pay up to $250 to bring it up to code. The AHS supervisor was saying that AHS would only cover up to $250 for the entire repair/replacement. The remainder to repair ($1800) would be my responsibility.

Does anyone have any insight or experience with this? I can't delay fixing the HVAC so my plan is to proceed with the repairs and then file through AHS' insurer and/or arbitration.

Thanks in advance!

It's tough in this market especially if you're looking for something turnkey. I've been looking for a few months as well. @Jorge Gonzalez's advice is solid. If it meets your criteria (i.e. $100 cash flow per door after all expenses, 8% CoC return, etc.) go for it. If it doesn't, don't.

I try to base my numbers off of comps instead of list price. List price is just an anchor - if I'm paying $25k over list price but accurate comps show that I'm still purchasing under market value and it meets my other criteria, it's still a good deal! 

Just this week I had to take a step back as well after catching myself trying to lower my standards and reason with myself to make a bad deal seem ok. When other people are looking at it from a "forever home" perspective and we're looking at it from an investment perspective, it's a lot harder but not impossible. 

In the meantime, keep looking, keep learning, and you'll find something soon! Good luck!

@Stephen Gay How has your search been going? I’m looking to invest in San Antonio in the next few months as well and would love to hear about your experience. 

Hi Rachel! I'm in the same boat. I live in Plano but looking to invest in NWA.