All Forum Posts by: Trent Ford

Thanks Tyler! I'll give Kenneth a shout!

Hey Everyone!

I'm looking to buy a small multi-family and house hack it to get me started. The realtor I had previously been working with has decided to step away from real estate for a bit, so I'm looking for recommendations of an investor-friendly realtor in my area.

Thanks!

Hi BP!
I just bought my first property! I am super excited, and also flooded with questions! Basically now is the point where all the theory becomes reality, and I want any and all advice you may have for a first time landlord.

The property is a recently remodeled duplex in a suburb of Dallas, TX, with a tenant currently in one of the units. The tenant has been month to month, as the seller didn't want the buyer to inherit a long lease. From the state of the unit, the tenant seems to be very clean and has taken good care of the place. 

However, the rent that the tenant is paying is a few hundred dollars less per month than what I think the unit could/should generate. How should I handle possibly raising rent for a current tenant? The tenant also has 2 dogs. I don't guess I can charge a pet deposit, as she's already in the unit?

Any other advice or words of wisdom you might have for a new landlord would be much appreciated! 

Thanks in Advance!

@Account Closed, Thanks for the heads up on the webinar! I'll check it out!

Thank you again to everyone. Gotta love the BP community!

Hi all,

I'm making a move from Houston to Dallas in a few months. Specifically I'll be working in Plano.

I'm looking to find a duplex to house-hack within a reasonable commuting distance (~30 minute drive). Based on a Zillow/Realtor.com search, there doesn't appear to be a ton of multi-family inventory on the market in that area. Thinking it'll be a big help to have a great Realtor on my team to help me find a good property. If anyone has any recommendations of realtors who know multi-family in North Dallas, it would be a big help.

Thanks everyone!

Trent Ford

As a Civil Engineer working in Houston in the hydrology & hydraulics field, I would highly recommend proceeding with caution before purchasing a home within the 1% Floodplain (100-year). You should absolutely factor the flood insurance costs into your deal analysis. However, unless you can get it at an incredible price, I'd expect the insurance costs on a property in the 1% Floodplain would kill your numbers.

If you are in the 1% floodplain, the math bears out that over a 30-year mortgage, you have an approximately 26% chance that the property will be flooded AT LEAST once. I would not invest in a property within the floodplain if I had other options, or unless I had some reason to believe the property could be removed from the floodplain due to a mapping error, or work done to the property.

Hi everyone, I'm Trent Ford.

Currently I work as a Civil Engineer in Houston, TX. Looking to begin a career in real estate investing as soon as I can. I'm primarily interested in acquiring buy and hold rental properties that create cash flow! I was raised near Waco, TX, went to school at Texas A&M University in College Station, TX, and currently reside in Houston, so I still need to determine in which market I want begin investing.

Until I find a deal and get in the game, I'll be saving up money for a down payment and looking to learn as much as possible from the community here at BP. Any advice or tips are more than welcome to this newbie!

Trent M. Ford