All Forum Posts by: Leigh Ann Smith

 @Jay S.  I agree with the others.  There's no way that tax is correct.  It's going to be close to 3%, so I'd plan on $3,750/year on a $125K building.  I'm not sure if multi-family rates are different than singles.  It would be good to find that out.

Making the 50% rule work in Texas is difficult due to the high property taxes.  If flood insurance is required, I don't think you'll get close.

As a newbie, it has taken me awhile to figure out that I can't just take the rental income, divide it in half and ASSUME that's what my expenses will be.  Rather, I need to look at it in reverse.  What will the monthly expenses be?  Can I get twice that much in rent?  If not, it might not be a good deal.  EXCEPT that in Texas, due to property taxes, the expenses will almost always come in at more than half of the rent.  It's starting to look to me like 60% for expenses might be a better target.  This doesn't mean the deal is not as good as one in another state, though.  We don't have income tax, so any cash flow you end up with will not have a state income tax applied to it.

@Quint Beniers , I'd suggest you listen to Podcast 77 with Michael Quarles. He talks about how he negotiates with prospective sellers when they call.

http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2014/07/03/bp-podcast-077-negotiating-way-1000-wholetail-deals-michael-quarles/

Rocky and I have it on our calendar and are planning to attend!

@Anthony Vettese , there is some great info here that will be helpful to you:

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/41/topics/6897...

Welcome to BiggerPockets!

I often hear investors refer to netting X dollars per door.  That makes no sense to me.  $200 per door per month might be great if you have 10K invested, but terrible if you have $100K invested.  Why does $ per door have any relevance at all?

@Bevla Reeves , I have also had good luck with contractors from HomeAdvisor.  They prescreen the contractors, so at least that's something

@JILL DUSKIN  do you have an idea about what real estate niche you are interested in...flipping, single family rentals, etc.?   I am a newbie too, and I have listened to a ton of podcasts in a relatively short period of time.  I could possibly make some suggestions based on your interest.

@David Edgerton , we have a friend who owns a couple of rentals in the Pasadena/Deer Park area, and he likes it for similar reasons.  Deer Park is definitely a better school district than Pasadena, so a home there would be worth paying a bit more for.

We are looking into the Sagemont area (west of I-45, just south of Beltway 8 south).  It's also in Pasadena Independent School District.  It's not that it's a gem of a neighborhood, but we've chosen that area because my husband and I both grew up there, and my father-in-law still lives there.  So, at least we know some things about the area.

The Sagemont area is comprised of several separate subdivisions (Sagemont, Sagemeadow, Sageglen, and a few others).  Just recently my father-in-law mentioned that if we look at houses in the actual Sagemont subdivision, we need to be careful because those houses have aluminum wiring, and that's why they've had a number of house fires there over the years.  Good to know!

@Daniel Okorie , it seems that good general contractors are a rare commodity in Houston and everywhere else!  I think if anyone finds one, they must want to keep him to themselves. Since you didn't get responses, I would consider googling general contractor Houston to get some names.  After you have the names, you could check Better Business Bureau, Angie's List, Yelp, etc.

One of the podcasts I just listened to suggested that when you are checking someone out, you should google their name and the word "fraud".  You could try other words like "cheated", "crook", etc.  On a more positive note, you could use the word "reviews".  Good luck!

I have been searching on the forums for quite awhile today, but no luck finding the info I am looking for.  Somewhere on Biggerpockets I learned that you should never use estimates when real numbers are available, and that has been our goal when assessing properties.  However, in this case, I can't even find estimates.

If we buy a bank foreclosure property at auction (in Houston/Harris County, Texas), what can we expect to pay in addition to the purchase price and the auction fee?  Will a title company give us an amount we would be charged for a property costing $X?  Is a title company even involved when you purchase a property at auction?  What about realtor fees?  Are there any?

Thanks for your help!