All Forum Posts by: Tim Neighbors

I'm a newbie. Just a couple months after buying a SFR investment property in Texas, I was served a lawsuit. My understanding is that a company that once owned the land that the entire neighborhood was built on lost the land to foreclosure in 1990 and is now suing all 400 landlords (myself included) in the neighborhood saying the foreclosure was not lawful and that the land is theirs. My Title insurance appears to be handling it. I notified them quickly and they told me that they will be using their attorney on the case.

Is there any advice one could give me as this plays out?  Should I get anything specific in writing?  I have been trying to communicate everything with email so I have record of them saying that they received my notification in a timely manner, though they seem to respond in very short ways without really saying much.  My main concern is that I must reply to the civil summons within 21 days of being served and I want to make sure that can happen ...though I don't really know what that entails and I think it requires me to rely on the title insurance company to prep the lawyer in time for my response.  Should I have my own lawyer?  ...should I be submitting my own response to their attorney?  

Thanks for any advice (in non-legal jargon please).

somebody actually printed a 12,000 sq ft. mansion in China.

http://inhabitat.com/12000-square-foot-3d-printed-...

I'm not saying we are doomed.  I just thought it is interesting food for thought. 

thanks for the responses.  

Still, 3d printing is not very limited.  They might look like little boxes right now, but the sky is the limit for how elaborate these printings can get.  

This morning I came upon an article about a company that is using a giant 3d printer to print small homes for only $5000 cost.  Should I be concerned about this technology eventually driving down the value of my investment properties?  Is most of the property value for a typical 3/2 home in the land or the building?

Thanks for the tips.  I want to keep some money liquid to possibly get a home to live in (primary residence) or invest in my business, but I feel like I should take advantage of the low rates (which sound like they are about to start going up).  I don't want to get my own home right now because I want to move (probably to Portland) soon.

Another thought is that maybe I should just keep saving and doing short term investing (like hard money loans for flips), so that when the market dips again, I can have enough to buy with cash and get a better deal.  thoughts?

Which leads me to another question: I recently read an article that suggested that the market goes in 18 year cycles with few exceptions, and thus the next dip shouldn't be until 2026 or so.  If that's the case and it's that predictable, I'm inclined to buy more property now while the getting is still reasonably good.  Is it really that easy to predict when the next dip will be or is the writer of that article oversimplifying? 

I'm here to learn, looking for advice, tips, wisdom, and maybe to offer the same to those who may be even newer than I. I purchased my first 2 investment properties (both buy 'n holds in the Austin Area) this year. I have enough for a 3rd, but I'm trying to decide if I should do hard money lending instead, or invest it outside of real estate entirely so as not to put all of my eggs in one basket. The historically low interest rates tempt me to go for another home (probably in a different area), but I fear I may be too heavily invested in real estate if I do. Any suggestions? tips? general knowledge?

Thank you!

tim