All Forum Posts by: Sharon Tzib

@Ronnie Howard unfortunately I think by and large most real estate agents aren't investor-friendly, and therefore they have no idea how to market a multi-family property. They are seemingly unaware of their target market and what information an investor needs to properly qualify a property, like rent roll, p&l, who pays what utilities, any outstanding maintenance issues, etc. When clients, like @Kevin Wood, go through their daily searches I have set up for them and see a multi they like, the first thing I almost always have to do is get in touch with the listing agent and try to track down all this information. It's annoying, but it's also part of the value I bring to my clients (thanks for the kind words too Kevin!).

I have often wondered about the owners of these buildings, that they don't think it's important to list with an agent who can effectively market income property and make it easy for a buyer to buy. They really are doing themselves a disservice. 

Bottom line, you really should have your own buyer's agent in your corner helping you to gather data and evaluate these properties, especially if you are new. 

http://www.har.com/content/newsroom/

• Single-family home sales continued their post-Hurricane Harvey comeback as volume rose 7.4 percent year-over-year with 6,184 units sold;
• Single-family home sales remain 3.3 percent ahead of 2016’s year-to-date volume;
• Days on Market (DOM) for single-family homes increased from 57 days in November 2016 to 61 days this November;
• Total property sales increased 4.9 percent with 7,270 units sold;
• Total dollar volume jumped 8.4 percent to $2.0 billion;
• The single-family home median price rose a fractional 0.3 percent to $225,725, which represents a November high;
• The single-family home average price increased 0.9 percent to $284,250, also the highest level for a November;
• Single-family homes months of inventory grew year-over-year to a 3.7-months supply, but is down from a 4.3-months pre-Harvey peak – the result of a surge in consumer demand for housing;
• Townhome/condominium sales fell 3.0 percent, with the average price down 5.4 percent to $196,546 and the median price down 3.2 percent to $158,100;
• Leases of single-family homes rose 6.8 percent with the average rent up 2.1 percent to $1,763;
• Volume of townhome/condominium leases jumped 20.1 percent with average rent down 0.5 percent to $1,498.

@Rae Hoffman don't think this applies to you with a dam release home, but others should be aware that "homes located in the floodplain have additional requirements, and repairs cannot be made until first contacting the Flood Management Office at ...."

https://www.publicworks.houstontx.gov/notices/flood-damage-repair.html

http://www.har.com/content/newsroom/

Houston Real Estate Highlights in October

• Single-family home sales continued their post-Hurricane Harvey rebound as volume rose 7.5 percent year-over-year with 6,381 units sold;
• Single-family home sales remain 2.8 percent ahead of 2016’s year-to-date volume;
• Total property sales increased 6.6 percent with 7,614 units sold;
• Total dollar jumped 10.8 percent to $2.1 billion;
• The single-family home median price rose 3.9 percent to $226,491, which represents an October high;
• The single-family home average price increased 2.7 percent to $285,858, also the highest level for an October;
• Single-family homes months of inventory grew year-over-year to a 3.9-months supply, but is down from a 4.3-months pre-Harvey peak – the result of a surge in consumer demand for housing;
• Townhome/condominium sales rose 5.8 percent, with the average price down 1.1 percent to $195,393 and the median price down 3.1 percent to $153,000;
• Leases of single-family homes rose 13.6 percent with the average rent up 2.8 percent to $1,776;
• Volume of townhome/condominium leases jumped 34.8 percent with average rent up 2.9 percent to $1,533.
• HAR still encourages anyone who has housing available for temporary occupancy (up to 12 weeks) to please post it on our Harvey Temporary Housing page at www.har.com/temporaryhousing to provide housing to those in need.

Wow, just wow! This is embarrassing for all agents out there that we have people in our profession spreading such negligent misinformation. Please don't hold it against all of us :)

@Collin Garbarino I agree it sounds odd. When I had my rental in California, you had to provide fridges and w/d, but that was years ago. Here in Houston, I've never had issues getting a home rented because there wasn't a fridge or w/d. In fact, I have one repeat investor (he's purchased four homes through me) who refuses to negotiate for the fridge to be included in the sale - seller must remove prior to closing - because he's so adamant about not having one more thing to maintenance in the house. His homes rent just fine.

I think it's a personal choice. If you want to provide one and are fine with doing the maintenance down the road, then put one in. You could also write a lease cause that says something to the effect of "refrigerator is on loan and should it break, tenant to repair and/or replace at their own expense." I do that with my Indy rental and it works just fine. 

I find lots of tenants already have their own appliances, either through having to purchase at other rentals that didn't have them, because they've relocated from another state and brought them with them, and since they may want to buy a home in the near future, they don't mind the investment. Your SFH tenants have a different mindset than your apartment tenants. People coming from an apartment would probably be the most resistant to a rental w/out.

My Houston investor clients almost never supply a refrigerator (and definitely not a washer and dryer). We also write in a "you break it, you replace it" clause into the lease about the garbage disposal as well.

Once again, Houston proves its resiliency! 

Houston Real Estate Highlights in September:

• Single-family home sales staged an impressive post-Hurricane Harvey rebound, rising 4.2 percent year-over-year with 6,913 units sold;
• On a year-to-date basis, single-family home sales remain 2.3 percent ahead of the 2016 volume, despite Harvey’s effect on Houston housing;
• Total property sales rose 3.4 percent with 8,150 units sold;
• Total dollar volume jumped 10.2 percent to $2.3 billion;
• At $232,000, the single-family home median price rose 5.5 percent, achieving a September high;
• The single-family home average price increased 5.4 percent to $291,767, also a record high for a September;
• Single-family homes months of inventory rose year-over-year from a 3.9-months supply to 4.1 months, but that is below the healthier 4.4-months supply that prevailed during the two months leading up to Harvey;
• Townhome/condominium sales fell 5.8 percent, with the average price up 3.5 percent to $208,215 and the median price up 8.4 percent to $159,950;
• Leases of single-family homes shot up an unprecedented 83.6 percent with average rent up 7.9 percent to $1,886;
• Volume of townhome/condominium leases surged 92.2 percent with average rent up 5.4 percent to $1,601.
• HAR continues to encourage anyone who has housing available for temporary occupancy (up to 12 weeks) to please post it on our Harvey Temporary Housing page as soon as possible at www.har.com/temporaryhousing to provide housing to those in need.

http://www.har.com/content/newsroom/

I spoke to my insurance broker yesterday, and costs for flood insurance in non-flood zones are:

$100K ($349.00 annual)

$125K ($366.00)

$150K ($389.00)

$200K ($425.00)

$250K ($450.00)

Also, when it is a rental, there is a $250 surcharge added to the base amount. 

Here's an article that seems relevant in this thread:

http://www.businessinsider.com/hurricane-katrina-can-teach-us-about-harveys-impact-on-houstons-housing-market-2017-9

Excerpt: "The assessment of the damage to the housing stock along the Gulf Coast is already becoming apparent. Thankfully, it is unlikely the damage to the housing stock will be as bad as in New Orleans after Katrina because Houston has a much greater supply of homes. While more than 100,000 properties have been adversely impacted by Harvey across the entire region (74,000 in Harris County), there are more than 3 million properties in the entire region. Yet, the burden is not shared equally geographically. Harris County accounts for almost half of the affected region’s housing stock with 1.4 million properties. While 74,000 properties have been adversely impacted in Harris County, they represent only 5 percent of the entire stock of homes that have been affected or damaged to some extent. Only 1 percent of the housing stock in the county is estimated to have major damage or have been destroyed. Delving deeper into Harris County, a sizeable share of the homes that were destroyed or incurred major damage is largely concentrated in just a handful of zip codes."