Starting Our Buy & Hold Portfolio

[Mel-Drick Green]

Looking to start a buy and hold portfolio of single family rentals in the Fort Worth, TX area (Saginaw/Benbrook/Burleson/Crowley).

Me and my fiancé are wanting to try and purchase new construction homes in class A to B neighborhoods (275-350K) and put 20-25% downs and live in them for 1-2 years while we save another down payment and then eventually move on and make it a rental.

We are not looking to scale rapidly. We’ve seen where we can make some of these New Construction homes cash flow $200-300 monthly. And we like the idea that maintenance shouldn’t be too much of an issue for the first couple of years. 

Our only concern is with the stability of the market, what happens if the rents reset in the area and the property no longer cash flows due to affordability in the 2 year time frame of us buying and then getting ready to move out would we just try and hold through that and even pay at a loss for a bit or do you pivot and sale? That’s the only part that we get caught up on. 

We are also open to hearing and learning some other different strategies as well. I’ve seen pretty quickly real estate is not a one size fits all everybody has something that works for them and we are always open to advice to help us learn and grow! 

Looking forward to talking and connecting with others. Thanks! 

[Jason Howell]

Nobody can predict the future, but the DFW area is one of, if not the, fastest growing areas in the country. Businesses are still moving to the area. As long as the country doesn't go into a long drawn out recession, I think that will continue. There has been a lot of building going on, but I think in the short term, the only rents that are in danger of resetting are in multi-family. My only concern is single-family rents could be flat for a few years due to the big run-up we've had in the past few years.

In general, I like your proposed strategy. I would double or triple check your numbers, though. I've only seen negative cash-flow for properties at that price point. Even though you are buying new, I would still account for vacancy, maintenance, and cap-ex when calculating cash-flow. You will have those expenses sooner or later. Also, insurance rates have been jumping higher recently. Make sure you have accurate numbers.  Good luck!