All Forum Posts by: Taylor Martel

Hi All:

I just moved to North Texas and am trying to acclimate myself with the different areas in order to select a good place to invest. I'm looking at buy and hold SF properties and would like to spend about $200,000 (give or take a little) where I can force about 10-20% appreciation with some repairs (changing dining room to bedroom/cosmetic things - no foundation work). I was initially looking at garland/irving/richardson but realize that unless I have all cash, investments in these area's may be very difficult to attain. A Realtor recently suggested the Denison/Sherman area which I started looking into and noticed that the housing prices are definitely within reach, and the rents seem to be high enough to balance and even provide a good cash-on-cash return. In comparison to the rest of north Texas, the area hasn't seemed to appreciate as rapidly but definitely has been stable throughout the past 10 years. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this area or suggestions for other areas that would meet my criteria. I'm looking to buy 2 investment properties/year and want to make sure to be profiting from them, but given that this is my first one -  I just want to make sure I can break even!

Thanks so much, your input is appreciated.

Taylor 

@Jordan Decuir - not a problem at all! Thank you for the offer and I will certainly reach out if I am in the area. Please feel free to PM if you have additional questions!

Best of of luck,

Taylor

@Jordan Decuir Ugh, the dreaded DNC list – yes, it takes time to match these people up. I work off something called a Cole directory – which basically has all resident information including phone numbers, it doesn’t include people who are on the DNC so I don’t call anyone I’m not supposed to as their contact information is not available anyway. If you are going to hire someone to help you out and get you exposure I would suggest using them in this capacity or an administrative capacity to allow you to focus on more calls. The truth is – the success of many newbies is in the cold-calling (unless your super popular and know EVERYBODY) but if you do plan to hire out cold-calling – I would highly suggest qualifying them very well, to make sure you’re not wasting money. Role play during the interview and make sure they know what they’re doing/saying. Remember- whatever they say to someone on the phone comes back to you as they are representing you’re name.

@Jordan Decuir My license was inactive most recently when I went back P/T. However, I would not suggest hiring this task out – especially if you are new to the game. You need to build your foundation, and get experience with rejection/being on the phone/asking the right qualifying questions, etc. Not to mention, if you haven’t cold-called yourself – how will you train someone to do it effectively while also knowing how to hold them accountable? To be quite frank – good cold-calling is an art, it takes a while to master – and not everyone is good at it especially in their initial years. My biggest worry is that someone might take advantage of you – no one likes cold-calling and it is quite easy for someone to not put the effort into this task especially when you’re not watching them! You would need someone whose done it before, that you trust as you cannot simply tell me you want 3 appointments a week or they get the boot – cold-calling can be cut down to a science (for example 100 calls should put get you on the phone with aprox 20 ppl, and in front of 2-3 (as always depending on your skill/area/etc) but ultimately, even I had low weeks and high weeks. I feel for someone like you that is just starting out needs to build your foundation and put the tough hours in – there is a lot of good that comes out of it!

@Sherry Cabrera, that's awesome to hear! Thanks for the info

@Jordan Decuir - Yes, they would be to set listing appointments. Honestly, I've tried calling at all hours of the day/evening. I would say only to avoid the dinner timeframe - no one wants to talk to someone when their hungry or if they are enjoying dinner with family. 

The other type of cold-call I've done is picking any street and telling the owner you have interested parties who are looking to buy in the area (always better to have a street or house that recently had a sale on it to mention in case the owner asks for more details).

Hi @Andy Webb and @Sherry Cabrera, thanks for the thoughts! I am actually moving to the area next weekend, so I plan to do some serious digging to learn and understand the areas.

I heard  there is a new school system being built - is that accurate?

Hi @Edwin Borrero! Thanks so much for the information. Yes, I'm still not ready for the heat! I've certainly heard that MF are hard to come by, I'm guessing SF are better investments? or is it that MF still maintain to be the best investments but are slim pickings? I don't mind cold-calling (used to it from 10+ years of being a Realtor myself) to find the right MF...but I also want to get my grounding on what the better areas are and best types of investing for this area...

@Kenneth McKeown - I'm looking forward hearing from you!

Hi Jordan, 

I have been cold-calling for 10+ years. I was initially cold calling for my broker who happened to be the #3 Realtor in the country and then I moved on to doing so for myself. I would say that the best strategy is to maintain consistency and continuous organization.I called many people and had to keep them on a list which I followed up with months later. In the market I was cold-calling (1M+ properties north of Boston) I spent 4 hours per day cold calling - I usually got through about 200 calls (yes, it was painful). I would average 3-5+ solid appointments (depending on time of year). I left VM for every call, and had an initial script that I memorized and learned by heart which evolved and changed with each conversation. I would look at the JUST SOLD list in MLS and identify streets with homes that just sold and then call ALL streets located near that one along with that one and tell them I had interested parties who missed out on the house that was just sold and asked if they would ever consider moving. I would say that most lead-generating techniques lack on new leads. You usually get the same leads weekly or maybe one or two are additions (but they are usually not super qualified and have been called too often by other Realtors) and at the end of the day when your doing it yourself you are calling a new person who most likely hasn't been called by anyone. I took some time off from real estate after having a baby and then decided i only wanted some P/T work and my broker actually hired me back at $25/h (with a bonus structure) simply because of my ability to set appointments. As I said in the beginning - she is a top producer and if she thinks its a good idea - its money!

Hope this helps - 

Taylor

Hi all:

I am new to the Dallas/Fort Worth TX area and am interested in purchasing my first property. I'm coming from Boston where MF are the better investments, and I am looking for assistance in a few areas where I lack information. 

I'm most interested in cash flowing properties, am not afraid to put some sweat equity into the investment (cosmetic - not foundational). I would ultimately like the investment to be in an A/B community as I may purchase as a house hack (if MF). I don't want to spend more than 400k and would like your feedback on the following questions:

-Are MF or SF investments best in this area?

-What area's would be best to purchase in according to my above criteria?

-Are there any up and coming areas that I should note? (Currently living in The Colony)

-Do you find student housing to be good investments in the Dallas/Richardson area?

Thanks in advance for your feedback!

Taylor