All Forum Posts by: Trace Martin

Congrats on the success with your investments and joining BP Pro!

Hey Simone, I plan to get into REI in Austin whenever I find a job or opportunity in that city. It would be great to connect, you seem to be doing the right things. I am interested in doing fix and flips in the future, but I have also seen others with success in rental arbitrage.

Hey Brian, I am looking to get into REI and flipping in Austin soon. Whenever I find a job or opportunity in Austin, I plan to move there.

For the kitchen, it doesn't look like there is much to do there besides change the cabinets and the layout maybe with the way it currently is. However, it looks like to the left it connects to another room (maybe the living or dining room) if so, I would see if it was load bearing and maybe take down that wall and make it a little more open, probably put an island where that is.

For the outside, it mostly looks like it needs a new paint job, fresh grass, and some pressure washing.  You could also add like a mini garden or flowers along the house or side walk leading up to it.

Quote from @Ali Radoncic:

What's the bonus ? haha

 The bonus is helping a fresh graduate get a foot in the door of real estate investing.

I needed to talk to a realtor for class, but I wanted to really talk to investors for my future in wanting to start in the REI world.

Class is over, and I am graduating tomorrow but am still looking to talk to any investors that wouldn't mind giving a little advice.

Quote from @V.G Jason:

Quote from @Trace Martin:

Quote from @V.G Jason:

Austin is the greatest city in the world, so I don't disagree. Just think you didn't do your diligence fully on the other cities or got misled on where to look. Granted, this is all opinionated but to say the mall in Houston makes me think you went the Galleria, Memorial City, or Katy Mills which is just a mistake in itself. Did you check out the Memorial Park area, Rice University area, or the Heights in the brunch time on weekends or happy hour time on weekdays? I've lived in all three of these cities, invest in all over texas but austin though I reside here as my primary. 

Houston is pretty rough to live in with the humidity, lack of nature, etc., but the economy is always resilient and sometimes thrives in downturns, so for that it'll always be a hub. I'd take the best parts of Houston over any other city in Texas, but I'd put the average areas in Austin over any in Texas. 

 I guess I just didn't go to the right areas, cause I missed those.  The mall I went to was The Highlight at Houston Center.  It was just dead, I think there was like a put put place and a couple of restaurants inside, but there were maybe 20 people in all of that mall.  I stayed in downtown Houston, travelled south west, then north, came back a bit east, and then made my way up to the Woodlands.  I would like to visit these cities again in the future, and I plan to. However, I didn't have much time, only about a day per city.  When I move to Austin, I would be able to go to the neighboring cities more often.  I drove from Alabama over 10 hours to get to texas for spring break and drove for probably 30-40 hours total in the span of the week. Being in the center and living in Austin should tell me whether to stay or give me the opportunity to travel a little easier to one of the neighboring cities to see if I enjoy it more.

 What mall did you go to out of curiosity?

Southwest houston is pretty much Sugarland, North is Aldine before you hit Spring/Woodlands and if you went East from there you're in nowhere land and just south of you is one of the worst hoods in America. 

None of these areas should have been visited. 

Next time you check out Houston, you can take a wide look at Katy, Cypress cause 99% of investors stick to those lower-entry points but take a look at Spring branch, Meyerland, airline heights, montrose, memorial park and don't fall victim to people pushing 3rd/5th ward.

Austin has a lot of really good neighborhoods, but none are as great as say River Oaks or Piney Point. But a lot are greater than or equal to the Heights which is a very, very good area in Houston.

The mall I went to was The Highlight at Houston Center. near the big green area, ice skating rink, and basketball center.  But Wow, I really visited the worst places I could really in Houston lol. When I went to Dallas, I had a plan and I enjoyed it, but in Austin I didn't have a plan.  I mainly just drove around freely, found myself in Pflugerville and continued to just try pretty much random destinations on the map and it turned out great! I tried the same thing with Houston but the result was different.  I really appreciate the insight now and I'll definitely have to keep it in mind the next time I visit Houston.

Quote from @V.G Jason:

Austin is the greatest city in the world, so I don't disagree. Just think you didn't do your diligence fully on the other cities or got misled on where to look. Granted, this is all opinionated but to say the mall in Houston makes me think you went the Galleria, Memorial City, or Katy Mills which is just a mistake in itself. Did you check out the Memorial Park area, Rice University area, or the Heights in the brunch time on weekends or happy hour time on weekdays? I've lived in all three of these cities, invest in all over texas but austin though I reside here as my primary. 

Houston is pretty rough to live in with the humidity, lack of nature, etc., but the economy is always resilient and sometimes thrives in downturns, so for that it'll always be a hub. I'd take the best parts of Houston over any other city in Texas, but I'd put the average areas in Austin over any in Texas. 

 I guess I just didn't go to the right areas, cause I missed those.  The mall I went to was The Highlight at Houston Center.  It was just dead, I think there was like a put put place and a couple of restaurants inside, but there were maybe 20 people in all of that mall.  I stayed in downtown Houston, travelled south west, then north, came back a bit east, and then made my way up to the Woodlands.  I would like to visit these cities again in the future, and I plan to. However, I didn't have much time, only about a day per city.  When I move to Austin, I would be able to go to the neighboring cities more often.  I drove from Alabama over 10 hours to get to texas for spring break and drove for probably 30-40 hours total in the span of the week. Being in the center and living in Austin should tell me whether to stay or give me the opportunity to travel a little easier to one of the neighboring cities to see if I enjoy it more.

Quote from @Mike C.:

Quote from @Trace Martin:

@Mike C. Thanks for asking! It was great. I definitely did a lot of driving over that time and really got a feel for each city. I have decided after the trip that I plan on moving to Austin TX. From best experience to worst it was: Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, then Houston. I wasn't really considering Austin at first, but really enjoyed this city the most by far when I actually went and visited. And Houston was actually what I was most looking forward to, but was honestly pretty disappointed. I'm going to try to make it work in Austin in REI even though I know the real estate market is a little rough out there.

 What made you like Austin the best and Houston the least?  I was looking at both markets myself, although if I thought of Austin I will likely check out San Antonio as well considering how close they are to one another.

I liked the city of Austin the best because of the overall city and suburb design as well as the community it looked like the city had.  I drove around different neighborhoods and it felt like home. They were friendly, nice houses, people being active running and doing different activities, and overall seemed like a happy town.  I went to the inner city where the capital was once again was excited to see a thriving and active city and to see the college was the same way as well.  In Austin, there is a huge influx of people coming in and some going out as well, so that to me seems like a good opportunity because cash is flowing in real estate instead of staying stagnant. I'm just about to graduate college and there is a lot of activities and community around people my age in the city as well.

Houston didn't impress me too much.  I drove around different parts of the city and even the nice parts to that people raved about and it was just a whole different vibe.  People seemed more on edge, there were worse drivers and annoying drivers who honked as soon as the light turned green.  The was fairly clean but there was a sense of uneasiness that came when I was in heart of Houston.  When I went to the mall it was a ghost town, and the whole city just wasn't inviting.  Maybe I just visited all the wrong parts of Houston and visited all the right parts of Austin. However, after I visited Austin for a day, I went to Houston the next day trying to make a case for it but it wasn't even close in my opinion.  I also visited Dallas and I would say that Dallas is about a step or two behind Austin but 2 or 3 steps ahead of Houston, based on just places I would want to live.

One more thing. I also like how Austin is at the center and I can get to Dallas, Fort Worth, Waco, San Antonio, and Houston all within like 2-3 hours.

Thank you @Jake Andronico and @Charlie Corn. I don't have to be specific with a certain area for my class.  I am looking to move to Austin Texas or maybe Dallas after I graduate, so it would be great if either of you have insight about that area.  If not, no worries.  I'd love to talk with either one of you or both.  What's times can y'all make?  My availability is from tomorrow (4/16) 12:30PM-4:30PM or after 7PM. Also, Wednesday before 2:00PM.

Hey, I am looking to call a realtor for my real estate class in college. It would be great if I could record it as well to make sure that I get the responses right. If you know any realtors, I would love if you could connect me with them if they would be good for a less than 15 min conversation. It would be a bonus if they were also real estate investors or developers as well, this part is for me to improve & learn in REI, not for my class.

@Mike C. Thanks for asking! It was great. I definitely did a lot of driving over that time and really got a feel for each city. I have decided after the trip that I plan on moving to Austin TX. From best experience to worst it was: Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, then Houston. I wasn't really considering Austin at first, but really enjoyed this city the most by far when I actually went and visited. And Houston was actually what I was most looking forward to, but was honestly pretty disappointed. I'm going to try to make it work in Austin in REI even though I know the real estate market is a little rough out there.