All Forum Posts by: Shawn Jaffee

@Michael Solomon I'm assuming this deal is on the MLS?

@Michael Solomon Its funny that you mentioned it, because I've been able to find some pretty cheap deals in that area the last two days. Though talking to my realtor, there's a reason why these properties are priced so low lol.

I haven't personally driven through that area, so something I'll have to look into.

@Jordan Moorhead I'm primarily looking in the south Austin area. Mainly 78745 and 78748. Though I'm trying to stick closer to William Cannon rather than Slaughter..

There are plenty under 400K, but I'm trying to stick much closer to 250K. That narrows the options down quite a bit.

As for an STR license, I have not entertained that much. But have heard of others having success doing airbnb in the area

@Jordan Moorhead I've been looking for about 4-5 months. A big part of my problem is that I haven't made any offers yet. 

One reason for that is that It seems I'd have to ask close to 40% off the listing price in most cases to even get close to any potential cash flow. Definitely doesn't hurt to try, but I also don't want to tick off my agent by making her submit a bunch of low ball's in such a competitive market!

@Jordan Moorhead I hear ya. I haven't had as much success with MLS so far. I'll just have to give it more time and possibly explore other ways of finding deals as well

@Marian Smith That's exactly what I'm doing. Learning, saving, searching, and getting auto emails from MLS. And that is one thing I thought about plenty, whether it makes sense for me to dive in towards the top of the cycle. But I also know the risky business of timing the market. I guess I just need to be patient and wait for the right opportunity

@Jordan Moorhead Are you primarily finding your deals off market? Or are you able to find success using avenues such as MLS?

@Michael Solomon If going with an FHA and putting the minimum down, I'll have more than enough to cover the down payment, covering closing if need be, and decent reserves left over.

But your numbers are in tune with what I’m seeing typically. When running numbers I see around 40% of my payment being covered. This is including mortgage, taxes and insurance.

But those numbers obviously won’t work if I rent out my half eventually. I will still have vacancy, repairs, cap ex, PM, etc. to consider

Definitely do have the option of moving further away, though it would be a bit of sacrifice dealing with the Austin traffic

@Lexi Teifke My only issue is that I don't know how long term I'd be in the property. I never know when I'll need to get up and relocate. But as of now intend on staying in the Austin area for a long time.

That unknown factor is the only thing that makes the long term play kind of murky.

I know Austin is a big appreciation market, but in a hypothetical where lets say I move after 5 years instead of 15 or 20, I wonder whether appreciation alone would be enough to cover all my selling costs and etc.

Thanks everyone for the responses!

For more context, I should have mentioned that I don’t know what my long term outlook would be. I definitely agree with  @Andrew Allen and @Beau Fannon that I would be kicking myself if I’m still sitting here paying rent at the same place over 10 years. But I’m thinking a little more short-term (closer to 5 years)

As for house hacking, that is what I wanted to do originally. FHA into a duplex with 3.5% down, rent out the other side and have that cover most of the monthly payment. Eventually with the plan of moving out and renting the other half.

In the current market, having the other unit cover most my living expenses hasn't seemed very realistic. But I do agree with everyone that it would be a good way to at least bring my payments down.

The only issue I have is that I wouldn’t want to house hack a duplex long term. Especially if I don’t think it’ll cash flow for me in the future.

But if I can finally find something where the numbers work, it'll be a different story.