Investor · Playa Del Rey, CA · Member since 2016 · 51 posts · 46 votes
Hello all! I'm new to BP and very excited to get started in buy & hold & rent out investing. I made my first offer on a SFH in Fort Worth yesterday. I lost it to a higher offer, but I'm still excited that I took my first big step! I'm a little relieved actually because I think I may be able to find better cashflow in other markets.
I work a full time job and live in California, so I'm mainly looking for places that are pretty much ready to be leased out. I started poking around in Bryan College Station and I think I found some better deals.
I don't have any connections in BCS. My agent is based in Dallas, so I can't leverage her network to get going. I'm currently looking for a good property manager in the Bryan College Station area. Would anyone have any recommendations? I found these guys and I'm wondering if anyone has had any experience working with them:
Welcome @Gabriel H. I've been in and out of the BCS market for over ten years. It's a great steady market IMO... if, like others have said, you're in the right part of town.
I"m also looking for a RELIABLE property manager in BCS. If I find one, I'll let you know. This post is a few months old so hopefully you've sorted yourself out in that regards. If so, who'd you find? and How'd it go?
You mentioned you find out of state deals...how are you able to work those deals? I've got some out of state deals I'm working and would love to hear what works for you.
What are you looking for ratio wise? price wise? Rent wise? Size? Age of house? College rental? family rental? I am a full time investor (renovation and infill development of single family and student rentals) and will help however I can. As far a "good property manager" there are a lot in town to pick from. TM5 is good at leasing but doesn't manage property. Kathy Scott is a good one at both.
Thanks for your response. I'm pretty open to opportunities. I was initially thinking a low maintenance, cash flow neutral, A+ property, just generating high quality equity would be ideal. Now I'm thinking I'd like more cash flow that a B or maybe even C could generate. I've been looking with the help of an agent who's using the MLS, and I've been obsessed with looking around on Trulia.
Price wise I'm looking under $200k. Open to going higher depending on the deal.
I've been looking at both single family and multi family homes. I've seen some 4-plexes around Bryan with some interesting pro forma numbers. Seems like they don't want to disclose much until after an offer is locked in.
Hoping to get between 6% and 10%. I don't have a lot of time to do a lot of refurbish work to get a distressed place ready to rent, so I'm looking at places that are pretty much ready to go. Because of that, I know I'm not going to get the outstanding ROI's that some get. Basic stuff like paint, floors, small appliances I can have someone do.
Anyways, hopefully that gives you an idea of what I'm looking for. Any feedback would be amazing and appreciated, thank you!!
I am also in the Bryan College Station (BCS) area . I have 3 SFH in College Station and have been recently tempted to venture into the Bryan zip codes although I am hesitant. The resale and school system is much weaker in Bryan. Be very careful comparing rental rates with a Bryan vs. College Station zip code even if they are only a few miles apart. I believe that the parents funding their students or the young professionals renting all prefer a College Station Zip code. It is deceiving from a distance as most list as B/CS.
I Would love to hear other points of view and experiences if anyone is in the area or knows of any investor social type events. I am kind of running as a lone wolf at the moment hoping to make new contacts and friends.
there is a local REI club. More than Bryan is distance to the university. The trend in town in large student houses 5/5. The primary spots are within 1.5 miles of campus and the other hot growth market right now is downtown Bryan. Like anywhere you need to know your market. Not knowing the market and your investment parameters you will find yourself in just as much trouble in college station as in Bryan.
good to know! the place i'm bidding on is pretty close to Blinn and about the same distance to TAMU, but not 1.5 miles close. It's an urban area, close to Walmart. =) if the offer is accepted, i'll share the address and maybe we can evaluate it together! there are some weird things coming up already I may want some outside opinions on.
Which Walmart? 1/2 way between blind and A&M is no man's land if you are targeting students. Feel free to PM me the street and I will give you my humble opinion. Good luck.
Why Texas and why BCS? To me, there are 2 big issues that I would be worried about as an out of state investor, investing in any college town, but particularly College Station.
1. Aggies love College Station, and there are many Aggies that are familiar with BCS and invest in the area. If something is still on the market (listed or unlisted), there is probably a reason.
2. Aggies love College Station so much that they are willing to pay a premium (i.e. take a hit to ROI) to have property in the promised land. If you don't have the emotional connection to the area, I am not convinced the ROI is worth it.
I imagine places like Columbus, Ohio and other cities with schools with very loyal fan bases probably have similar issues. It also seems from reading Bigger Pockets that there are a lot of places around the country with much better ROI than Texas for buy and hold investors. Does the 2% rule even exist in this state? I think my area is struggling to satisfy a .5% rule.
That being said, good luck! I am interested to hear where the property is located. I'll 3rd/4th what others have said, I'm not even sure that Blinn students want to live in Bryan.
I'm looking at Texas in particular for a couple reasons -
1. I'm from Texas and I go back there frequently to visit family. My mom lives about 1.5 hours from BCS near Houston, and I have a good friend who lives in BCS.
2. My dad is an investor with a portfolio of 10 SFH and MFH's with good cashflow, all located in Texas. So I have him as a mentor who's familiar with the state landlord/tenant laws, etc. And yah, I've also found it's hard to find 1% or 2%, especially Dallas!
I landed on BCS for this one deal in particular and am looking around the area for other potentials while I evaluate this one. I live in Los Angeles, and I don't have the $$ to invest anywhere close to here.
That being said... Good to know others are having trouble finding good deals in Texas! I thought maybe I was just bad at finding them. haha I may have to explore other states....
I'm moving to College station in August to pursue a PhD and I looked into buying a rental property there. From what I've seen, several of the 4 bedroom college town homes provide tremendous cash flow. Better yet, there seems to be little vacancy in these because of the connection to TAMU.
There are opportunities to find 1%. Better than the vacancy rates in both Bryan and College are very low. You may turnover new renters more often in a college town, both Blinn and A&M are constantly expanding. With the renovation to Riverside Campur, now called RELLIS, will be adding more students, more faculty, AND it is located in Bryan.
Welcome @Gabriel H. I've been in and out of the BCS market for over ten years. It's a great steady market IMO... if, like others have said, you're in the right part of town.
I"m also looking for a RELIABLE property manager in BCS. If I find one, I'll let you know. This post is a few months old so hopefully you've sorted yourself out in that regards. If so, who'd you find? and How'd it go?
You mentioned you find out of state deals...how are you able to work those deals? I've got some out of state deals I'm working and would love to hear what works for you.