All Forum Posts by: Shawn Dandridge

Thanks Billy. I haven't moved there yet. Won't be until later this year or early 2016. I was just doing some reading and it doesn't sound like a bad city at all. I'm excited to check it out. I am loving all the veteran friendly perks of TX already!

Another twist to the story. Apparently my wife will be attending law school at Texas A&M which is in Fort Worth. The compromise seems to be living in Arlington. Is it a "real" city? What I mean by this is not in the middle of nowhere and country. I will visiting in April.

Hattie,

Thanks for the detailed response. I will most likely take a visit of the city in April and really begin the house hunt after the summer. Most of the houses I've seen will require some updating but has good bones. Thanks for information and I would love to talk with your realtor.

I have a VA loan and I have been told by several lenders that VA loans can refi up to 100% cash out. We will see what happens.

I get about 3-5 direct mailers weekly from lenders across the country to refi my primary residence. Finally decided to call one and see what they were offering. I've talked with a couple of relators in the area and they say my condo is worth between 270 and 275k. I bought a year ago for 238k. The guy told me I could do 100% cash out refi and lower my rate from 4.125% to 3.625% and walk away with about 32k in cash. The lender order the appraisal today so we will see what the appraiser comes up with. I will keep the forum posted. The lender is Nation Lending Corp out of Ohio.

I ETS from the military either later this year or next year. I am looking to relocate to the Dallas area. I am looking for a middle class/upper middle class neighborhood. Looking for a house in the 150-225k range. I am looking for a primary residence. Annual household income would be around 150k. Perfer something close to UT Dallas or within a 20 or 30 minute drive. I know nothing about the city and just trying to find some people that are familiar with it.

This article was posted by WMC TV 5 in Memphis:

http://www.wmcactionnews5.com/story/27175888/mothe...

To sum it up, this woman is pregnant with triplets, already has other children and is behind on her rent. This article to me is basically making the landlord out to be the bad guy for evicting her. People not in the business don't understand that the margins are really small and rarely take into account the expenses associated with it. They just see "I'm giving him $1300 or $1500 a month in rent, they're making a killing". I would like to hear the BP community's thoughts on this article.

Detriot caused all of it's own problems. For some God awful reason the politicians in Detriot thought that they auto industry money would flow forever. Like several posters stated before me, the unions screwed that up. The unions are the cause of all manufacturing jobs leaving the states. Seriously, how can you compete with labor overseas when you have to pay one guy in a Ford factory $90 to put on a left tire or screw a lightbulb in a headlight. I think at a time in America's history unions were an absoulute neccessisty for as of 2014, they do a better job at shakedowns than the mafia. I can't believe people still join these relics of the 20th century. You're basically digging your own grave every month you pay a union due. Your job will be in Indonesia or Bangledesh soon enough.

Agreed Hattie.

Well I don't own 10 properties but I will give you my story. I bought my first rental in late March of this year. Immediately after closing, a tenant said she was moving out. She moved out and continued to use the unit as her personal storage area for the next 2 months or so.  Eventually we got rid of her. The tenant that stayed paid late, very late. Like 16 or 17th of the month late. The rental is in a low income area so I expected the turnover, just not that soon. I spent around $2000 fixing up the unit and other associated problems around the duplex (i.e. insurance company wanted rails on the stairs and front porch). I raised the rents of both units. One guy still pays late but now he pays 6 or 7. The newer tenant has paid on time since he's been there. At first I thought this was the biggest mistake I could have made since the property is in Memphis and I'm in Maryland. I credit the eventual smooth transition to my property manager, Derrick Craig, for being my eyes and ears on the ground. I've always wanted to do real estate and thankful I finally managed to get my foot in the door. Although I learned some valuable lessons very early on, I know have a better grasp on inheriting tenants and what to do when I first take ownership of any rental. The lessons cost be some greenbacks but I will make those back :-). First hand knowledge can't be bought and is invaluable.