All Forum Posts by: Stefan Stankovic

 Good move, although you're probably missing the Cali weather a bit. I'll give you a call tomorrow morning to set that up

 Yeah back in Houston! Wanted to be closer to the action so I came back in November. Didn't think to check the county clerk website, thanks for the heads up. 

Hope you've got a trip planned to Houston soon. Let me know if you do and we can catch up. 

 Thanks William, I'll look into this.

Hello everyone, 

Thanks in advance for any answers to this question. I am currently doing some off-market property identification for an investment firm in Houston, and my coworker said that when he refinanced his home and put a new one under contract, he started getting multiple phone calls a week from individuals trying to buy his home. My question is, how did these people either a) find out he refinanced his home or b) put a new one under contract? Have you ever used either or both of these as a criteria in your search? I looked on REI Source but don't see anything that would help indicate that either of these two things were occurring.

Thanks!

 Hey Patrick, 

I actually ended up changing careers to real estate and using my savings to fund it starting it out (basically what Scott Trench says to do in "Set for Life"), so I don't own a property yet. I was working with Phillip Morris at One Trust Home Loans though and got very close to purchasing. I highly recommend them. I'll PM you his info. 

Passing it off to the broker seems like a common option, but I am acting as a broker and get a fee on acquisition. I will start going directly to their house. I had a feeling that was the best last option. 

Did people ever react negatively to your door-knocking?

Hey everyone, 

I'm currently working in land acquisition for a few companies in the Houston area and am running into some hiccups when trying to get homeowners on the phone/in person. 

My current strategy is to send letters first and then cold call a week later. I call until I get an answer or until they tell me they aren't interested at any price. When they tell me they aren't interested, I then ask if I can submit an offer and they always say yes. Then I call them back the next day with my offer or send another letter with the offer. 

My problem is that when I cold call some people simply never answer the phone because they don't know my number (can't say I blame them as I do the same). I tried sending a text today and the guy read my message as indicated by read receipts but again didn't answer. I also tried LinkedIn messages where I promise not to lowball and that has worked once.

Anyone have a suggestion for what to do after that? Do you send another, different letter? Another text? I plan to continue calling people until they tell me to go away and that they don't even want an offer. Normally I would give up, but I need a bunch of these properties in a row to build on them. I am able to offer market or above-market as well, so I rarely have to lowball thankfully. 

Looking forward to your responses!

Thanks for your your response Jim. After some further research and discussions with builders, it seems the extra scrutiny is almost impossible to circumvent. For now I'll see if I can get some of the properties exempted somehow or I can find a builder interested in the area. If you ever speak with those builders focused on the historical district again and they are looking for someone to wholesale them lots or partner with them on a build, please send them my way! 

Hello everyone, 

I am trying to gauge the viability of pursuing a new construction project in a historic district in Houston. From my limited understanding, a Certificate of Appropriateness is necessary for approval on any new construction. I'm not sure how smoothly the process would go with the city or how far I can push the criterion. 

I see the following criterion (https://www.houstontx.gov/planning/HistoricPres/Hi...): 

The distance from the property line of the front and side walls, porches, and exterior features of any proposed new construction must be compatible with the distance from the property line of similar elements of existing contributing structures in the context area.

The exterior features of new construction must be compatible with the exterior features of existing contributing structures in the context area.

The scale and proportions of the new construction, including the relationship of the width, overall height, eave height, foundation height, porch height, roof shape and roof pitch, and other dimensions to each other, must be compatible with the typical scale and proportions of existing contributing structures in the context area unless special circumstances, such as an atypical use, location or lot size, warrant an atypical scale and proportions.

The height of the new construction must not be taller than the typical height of existing contributing structures in the context areas unless special circumstances , such as an atypical use, location or lot size warrant an atypical height, except that:

a. design guidelines for an individual historic district may provide that a new construction with two stories may be constructed in a context area with only one-story contributing structures as long as the first story of the new construction has proportions compatible with the contributing structures in the context area, and the second story has similar proportions to the first story; and

b. A new construction shall not be constructed with more than one story in a historic district that is comprised entirely of one-story contributing structures, except as provided for in design guidelines for an individual historic district.;
Please refer to the individual Historic District pages for further details on what’s appropriate for each district.

Can someone with some experience please help me gauge the viability of this? We would like to build townhomes, but it seems that may not be possible as none of the contributing properties are townhomes. Assuming we do build a SFH instead, I'm wondering how it was dealing the city and getting approved. Hope this question is specific enough for anyone who can answer :). Still doing more research now.

Hello everyone, 

I'm doing land acquisition in the Austin area for spec home builds among other projects and was wondering if anyone could give me some suggestions for wholesaler lists online? Would love to consider some of the options they may have. 

Thanks in advance.