All Forum Posts by: Sharon Tzib

Hey @Dustin Cavalier! I'm an investor myself and have been lucky enough to help many, many BP investors find buy and hold rentals in Houston. Let me know if I can help you in any way. Good luck!

Before you purchase a rental property, review the rental comps and see how long a home typically takes to rent in that neighborhood, so you'll know what is "normal." Ask your realtor if you are getting any apps at all. If you are, then you know you're priced right, it's just a matter of accepting a quality tenant (I reject lots of apps for my clients if they don't meet certain criteria). If you aren't getting any apps, or worse, showings, then you need to lower your price. 

Hi @Naeem Kapasi - sorry, BP didn't notify me of your tag. Most of my investor clients don't look at a lot of homes. They are able to do all of the qualifying online, and then they only go see the truly worthy properties. My average investor only looks at about 4-6 homes before offering and purchasing. Having said that, I place no limits on how many properties I am willing to show a client, as long as they are financially capable to purchase, serious, and motivated, I will work with them to get them the deal they are looking for. Email or call me and I'd be happy to discuss this more with you.

Glad to see you've finally arrived @Naeem Kapasi. Champions Real Estate school is a very reputable school here in the Houston area. Tons of annual fees go along with being a realtor, however (MLS, NAR, TAR, your broker, E&O insurance, just to name a few), and having access to the MLS, so make sure it is really cost effective for you before jumping in if you will only be using it for investing. You're better off using a buyer's agent for free than getting licensed.

Most of Cypress and SB are pretty hard to cash flow in for buy and holds. Rents haven't kept up with home prices. 

Good luck with whatever you decide! 

Hi @Jeremy Bates! I've been an investor since 2002 and have helped well over 15 BP investors purchase buy and hold rental property in Houston in the last year. Almost all of them were newbies. Feel free to PM me and I'd be happy to discuss your goals further with you.

Highlights:

• Single-family home sales were basically unchanged with a total of 7,696 units sold;
• On a year-to-date basis, single-family home sales are up 2.7 percent;
• Total property sales fell 0.9 percent to 9,139 units;
• Total dollar volume declined 1.7 percent to $2.6 billion;
• At $230,538, the single-family home median price rose 2.5 percent to a record high;
• The single-family home average price declined 0.8 percent to the second highest level of all time, $300,178 (the highest was $302,599 in June 2015);
• Single-family homes months of inventory climbed to a 3.7-months supply versus 3.2 months a year earlier;
• Townhome/condominium sales fell 5.8 percent with the average price down 2.4 percent to $197,937 and the median price up 2.1 percent to $164,450;
• Leases of single-family homes were up 4.8 percent with rents up slightly to $1,883;
• Leases of townhomes/condominiums soared 12.9 percent with rents down 5.6 percent to $1,658.

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

Hi @Pamela Russell! I've helped a few investors purchase multi-families in Houston. The podcast with Kevin Wood will tell you more: https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2016/03/24/bp-podcast-1670-25-units-year-part-timekevin-wood/

Feel free to PM me if you want to talk further. Thanks! Sharon

Hey @patricknguyen! The down turn started 2 years ago. I think it is safe to say Houston is quite diversified now, and it is having little to no effect on the lower end of the market.  Homes in the upper tier ($250k +) are taking longer to sell, however. Gas prices have been inching up here lately.  We're probably the only city in the country who gets excited when that happens lol!

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

Houston Real Estate Highlights in May:

• Single-family home sales rose 10 percent compared to last May;
• On a year-to-date basis, single-family home sales are up 3.4 percent;
• Total property sales jumped 7.1 percent to 8,703 units;
• Total dollar volume rose 7.3 percent to $2.4 billion;
• At $290,931, the single-family home average price was statistically unchanged from last year;
• The single-family home median price was also flat at $225,000;
• Single-family homes months of inventory climbed to a 3.6-months supply versus 3.0 months a year earlier;
• Townhome/condominium sales were unchanged with the average price down 2.6 percent to $198,411 and the median price up 7.6 percent to $163,000;
• Leases of single-family homes were up 4.1 percent with rents unchanged at $1,866;
• Leases of townhomes/condominiums soared 10.7 percent with rents unchanged at $1,666.

@Dru Bennett 4 out of 10 people rent in Houston, which is why it's always been a great place to be an investor. We still have a lot of people moving here because the economy is still strong overall, and they like to rent for a year or two to get the lay of the land before purchasing. Others need to strengthen their credit or save for a down payment. Others still are not ready to buy. Lots of reasons. And yes, numbers are year over year.

@Trent Herbert the under $250K market is brutal right now. Multiple offers within days of putting a home on the market. The over $250K market, where you might live, has softened, presumably because a lot of the oil and gas execs need to sell.