All Forum Posts by: Richard Rohrbough

@James Chambers I agree with Rick. Start by joining any number of real estate investor groups. Alamo REIA (https://www.alamoreia.org/) is a good one. Go to their calendar to see upcoming events and start attending. Later, if you want to join, I believe it's $197/year. It's a very active group. Like Rick, I also attend BREW in Boerne. 

There are also lots of San Antonio-area Facebook groups you could join. Some are more active than others, but all will help you get educated about REI and will help you meet and connect with like-minded people.

I would gladly take your tenant right now in one of my rentals! Send her my way!

Good tenants are hard to find. Good tenants who pay above market are even harder to find. Don't fix what isn't broken! Odds are you'll end up wishing you had not increased the rent and kept this tenant.

Thank you, Michele, Richard, Nathan, Irving, and Carlton. I appreciate the time you took to offer your opinions and advice. 

Update: I told my tenants on June 1 that I wasn't renewing and the lease would expire July 31 (60 days notice)...so they haven't paid for June yet (June 23) and I suspect they won't pay for July either. I have begun the eviction process (for non-payment and other violations of the agreement) even though it likely won't wrap up in time. This needs to be on their record to forewarn other landlords. On to the next tenants!

Good question. I've been using Propwire for the last week and have wondered how accurate it is. I did a search on vacant properties and then did a drive-by test yesterday. Four of 8 properties I checked were indeed vacant, so 50% accurate in this small, anecdotal test. I appreciate that Propwire is free, so I'll continue to use it unless the data proves to be inaccurate. 

Good questions, Jeff. Thanks for sending them my way.

I bought the property a year ago (June 2022), rehabbed it over the summer and then tried to sell it in the fall. The market had dropped significantly such that I would have lost money on the house, so I decided to rent it out instead. Even at a loss each month, I felt it gave me a chance to someday get back to even or more whereas selling would be an immediate for sure loss!

My reason for purchasing was to fix & flip to gain cash, not cash-flow. After doing a few f&f properties and building up my cash, I then planned to shift to focusing on cash flow. So, I likely will continue with my plan of f&f to build up cash (plus keep this one property that isn't cash-flowing), but try to do a better job of buying right.

I can't sell for a profit today, but it would allow me to pay off the mortgage and have about $50k in cash to deploy again.

The property is in San Antonio. As for long-term appreciation, it's possible, maybe even probable. It's in a downtown neighborhood that is regentrifying, so I think there will continue to be interest in homes in this area which should help with appreciation over time. 

There's some short-term benefit to writing this off, but there's probably a larger long-term benefit to keeping it if it appreciates and cashflows someday.

I don't have a specific property in mind that would be a better place for the cash, but I do believe that I've learned a lot over the last year and that I can use that education to make better purchases going forward. However, I don't have to sell this one property to make better decisions on the next property. I can keep this one property that isn't cash-flowing AND make better decisions on the next property. As my portfolio grows, I'll be less concerned about this one property AND I'll be giving the property a chance to get back to even or more.

Thanks William.

I only have one other property currently, and I did bump the rents up there, but mostly that was for the tax increases happening on that property. As I mentioned in another reply, if I had more cash-flowing properties (like you), then I probably wouldn't be worried about this one property not cash flowing. When I look at my portfolio of 2 properties, I am cash-flowing. I may just stay the course with this property and focus more on the overall portfolio performance.

Thanks for the reply, Paul.

My goal for this property was cash. Not cash flow. I wanted to build up cash with a few fix & flips and then use the cash to purchase for cash-flow. 

Instead, by the time the flip was ready to sell last fall, the market had dropped significantly such that I would have lost a significant amount if I sold. So, I switched to a LTR strategy where I'm losing some each month. The thought there is selling is a for sure loss while losing a little each month at least gives me a chance to get back to even or more on this property. I only posted my situation here to see what the BP community would advise. And they've come through with lots of things to consider, and you have too. I'll check out llama and see if that makes my decision clearer.

Hello, AC. I could have stuck with my plan and sold last fall after I finished the rehab, but that would have resulted in a sizeable loss. So, I decided to rent, even at a small loss each month, instead of sell. Selling last fall, and even now, would be a certain loss. Losing a bit each month but waiting to see how things play out in the future at least gives me a chance at recovering. So that's how I ended up changing my plans to renting...and I should probably give that plan a chance to play out.

Thanks, Richard. All good questions to ponder. 

If I had another couple of cash-flowing properties, I wouldn't sweat this one property not cash flowing. Instead, I'd probably even add a 2nd bathroom and maybe a 3rd bedroom. Given this thinking, I probably should just continue renting this property out for what I can get, and seek better investments elsewhere. In other words, while I want each property to cash flow, I should take a step back and look at my whole portfolio. 

 I have listed it on Roomies and I've been pleasantly surprised by the interest in my house. We'll see where this goes.