All Forum Posts by: Shawn Dandridge

Great article Al. I am moving to the Fort Worth area and with all the building and construction going on in the Alliance Center area, this model would definitely work. I will seriously have to look into this when I finally get on the ground.

Hey Phil,

Another Frederick guy here. Welcome to the site!

I am currently in this situation right now. We are doing new construction in Fort Worth, Own two rentals, and live in a primary (for now) in MD. Everything was straight forward as far as the loan process but I have to have 3 months PITI per rental, including the one I live in now which we plan to convert to a rental once the new build is finished. But we are also W-2 government employees and not self employed so I guess that makes a difference as well.

Kerry you may want to be careful what you post. You just admitted that you discriminate for housing which is breaking federal law. Lincoln Military housing is currently caught up in litigation for this exact same thing.

I just returned from Fort Worth yesterday and I have to say I'm very impressed with the area. I went all over town and visited several neighborhoods. My wife and I decided to buy in the Keller area. One thing I can say is that the Fort Worth market is ON FIRE! New builders went up on prices while we were in town by 2k and were planning another 2k increase this week. One thing I did not know that I found out was that many builders separate mineral rights from the land AND then make you pay for the lot. Upon doing some research, I found this a very common practice. I don't agree with it however. I also like the fact that you can virtually get anywhere in Fort Worth in 25 minutes or less, much better timing than DC traffic. I signed a contract with History Maker homes but we are still negotiating options/closing costs subsidies. I am interested to see if anyone has an experience with them and what concessions are typical for the market.

Michael,

In case you haven't noticed, this is a public message board. Obviously you don't agree with my opinion which is fine. I will continue to post my opinion on the subject because I think people should be informed that some perceptions and beliefs on how to handle military members are just plain wrong, unethical, or unjust. Thanks.

I work in a joint services unit. I'm well aware how you AF guys operate. Like I said no one can make them pay nor can they suffer any UCMJ or Non judicial punishment. You are one of the landlords that I am talking about. I would never give you my unit information. You would be the type to call the chain of command for anything YOU think is a problem. Sad.

I hate reading about these generalizations about all members of the military. I am active duty Army, E-6. Not all military members like to live in "low class" housing. I currently own a condo in the best neighborhood in town, Class A neighborhood in Maryland. I also hate the fact that landlords and others think that because a service member can't pay that they should immediately to go the chain of command to get it sorted out. For one I think it's an invasion of privacy. Another, its quite childish in my opinion. Would you go to the Wal-Mart worker's store manager and tell them they didn't pay rent? NO!

Contrary to what many people will have you believe, including those in the military, the chain of command can't MAKE you pay your bills. They can highly suggest it through round about ways of threats but it's clearly stated in the regulation of ALL services that these things are civil matters and not the military's problem. These things could affect clearances but missing one rent payment won't kill your chances of a clearance. It's not the chain of commands job to be bothered with these small problems. A good chain of command will tell you it's not their problem and its a personal matter. I've never given or had a landlord ask for unit information. I would have not given it up anyways. If they can't trust me to pay my obligations, which I ALWAYS have, then we don't need to do business. Service members have enough babysitters at work already, I don't want to add my landlord to that list.

I will also be visiting DFW for 8 days. April 1-8. Looking at primary residences mainly but will also be looking at areas to invest in. I should be moving sometime early next year. My wife is planning to attend Texas A/M Law so we will most likely buy in Fort Worth or Arlington. We are leaning towards Arlington since it's "in the middle"

Derrick Craig with DCC Rentals manages my property in Memphis and does a fantastic job.