All Forum Posts by: Spenser Murphy

Thanks for the clarification.

What do you mean by a "5 year term amortized over 20 years"?

Since I don't have any deals or experience, I should start with residential multifamily then? Thanks for the great information.

I want to a buy a 2-4 for unit property. 1 to 4 units falls under a residential loan. I spoke to a lender and they were very rigid in their requirements. I keep reading 5> unit properties are commercial loans. This loan type has more flexible qualification requirements, I know the lender looks more at the property's numbers than your income. What do I need to bring to the table? What is the typical down payment percentage? How hard do they look at your finances? What do they look at? I realize there are a lot different variables and possibilities. I'm new to investing so a general overview would be great. Thanks.

Welcome to BP and real estate investing. I'm new to investing too. I've learned a lot from reading the favorite books of BP podcast guests. I have lived in San Antonio all my life. San Antonio isn't a wealthy city. Coming from San Diego, real estate is cheap here. However, employment here is stable. We have the massive Texas Health Science Center. It's a large hospital, medical provider, and medical school district. The largest private employer is USAA insurance. They are headquartered here. Lackland AFB base and Ft Sam Houston are major military installations that are unlikely to close. I swear this isn't a paid promotion. I'd look at the numbers on a property. It needs to work on paper first. "Remember to fall in love with the deal; not the property." 

I'm quickly learning the value of networking. Hang out here or your local real estate club to meet people. On the podcasts, several guests mentioned being approached by investors with a deal; not the reverse. Casually tell friends or acquaintances you're getting into real estate investing for leads. It works. I told my father what I'm doing and he said, "Oh yeah, my coworker is into real estate. Let me introduce you to her." I'm sure a someone from Dallas will drop in here soon. I hope that helps. I'm curious to see what others say about San Antonio.

I'm new here too. I'm assuming you listened to all the BP podcasts. I started reading the guests' favorite books on real estate and business. While not a direct mentor, some of these books have changed my understanding of investment and approach to investment. I think The Millionaire Next Door is a must read. I'm glad you started this thread. I'm looking for mentorship as well. Thanks

I have three more observations to add. They aren't data mining related. If you're looking at Florida, you might ponder how warming relations with Cuba might affect the real estate market. It could be irrelevant. In my readings and podcasts, they mentioned contacting the local chamber of commerce for economic data. On a BP podcast, the guest subscribed to local business journal stay current on future development and economic trends.

That's my understanding as well.

The Census publishes the polygon layers (think city, state, or county boundaries, etc) for the different geographic units. They don't come with the demographic data. You join the CVS file to the layer. It's still a little difficult, but not like grinding in R. I know variables thin out as you go to smaller units like census block groups. You can download freeware and open source GIS platforms to view and join the tables to geometry. If you go this route, use geodatabases. They have a smaller foot print and much more efficient than shapefiles.

You can find the geometry by Googling: US Census TIGER

If memory serves me, the Census should have the categories of employment. Government, institutional, military sectors are largely permanent employers. San Antonio is based on these industries.