Dallas TX real estate agent ?

Question

I have an opportunity to move to grapevine texas and work for a contractor there who are developing houses. While I am there I would love to be able to owner occupy a property fix it up and move to keep it as a cash-flowing asset.

Can anyone recommend me to a lender, property manager, and or an agent in the area?

Preferably ones that have experience with investors.

thanks,

Shane

Steve Rozenberg · Answer

@Shane Elias-Calles

It is very important that you make sure you take the time to interview and have candid conversations with a PM company. Let them know your strategy, your goals and what your business plan is to ensure that your business plan aligns with theirs and you can both work towards the same goal. If they are not aligned then simply keep looking till you find one that is.I would look up NARPM and start with them..Below are some questions I would think would be a good starting point for you to see who really treats their company like a business or a hobby.

My business partner is a regional VP for NARPM and I am happy to help if you need anything please reach out

Questions to Ask prospective management companies

* What are your average days on market for vacant homes?

* What is your average rent amount for all properties managed?

* What is your average work order cost for the owner?

* What is your average make ready cost for the owner?

* Are all my invoices uploaded to my owner portal?

* How do you advertise your vacant units?

* Do I receive video of my pre and post make ready?

* Do you have a setup fee?

* Do you upcharge on maintenance?

* When do you make owner payments? How often?

* Are you a Certified Property Manager?

* Are you a member of NARPM?

* What is your Guarantee?

* Do you provide move in and move out reports

* How many pictures do you take of the property prior to tenant moves in and after the tenant moves out

* Do you get weekly reports when the property is vacant what prospective tenants are saying about your home

* Do you provide monthly newsletters to your tenants

* Do you hold investor education classes to help me become a better investor

* Do you have single point portfolio based management services?

* How many properties do the owners actually own themselves?

* What do you do to ensure that the tenant is responsible for security deposit disputes since that is the largest reason for owner lawsuits

* How familiar are you with the newly changed laws that can affect you the owner if they are not used correctly?

Andrew Postell · Answer

@Shane Elias-Calles pretty exciting on the move.  Are you from here or anything?  Have family here perhaps?  Grapevine is a great town and pretty convenient to both Dallas and Fort Worth.  We even have a pretty active Texas forum here on Bigger Pockets too if you ever want to post in there.  You have some good suggestions above and I will also include my list of questions that I would recommend asking your lenders as well.  Let me know if there is anything else I can help with!

Questions for Lenders

• When do you start using rental income to help me qualify? (the      answer needs to be immediately)
• When do you start using “After Repair Value” on my property?
• How long do you need me to be on title to refinance? (this is      important if you do need a short term loan to purchase then refinance out      - and the answer should be 1 day...very important that it is 1 day on      title is all that is needed to refinance)
• What is my minimum down payment required? (if they only require 15%      down on a single family home that is usually a good sign that you are      working with a flexible lender)
• How many loans can I have with you?
• Can I change title to my LLC?
• Do you offer all 3 renovation loan types?  (FHA streamline, FHA Full, Fannie Mae HomeStyle)
• Do you sell your mortgages?
• What is your loan minimum?
• Can you explain to me what your reserve requirements are?

Shane Elias-Calles · Answer

@Joe Funari Thank you very much for your recommendations. I notice that you are an agent in the keller, area. I have been speaking with a contractor in the area who works with investors and he believes that keller has a lot of potential as an investment market.

I will be sure to add the names you have provided to my data base, including yours. I appreciate your kindess in sharing the information that you have.

I am working on aquiring some private capital, if that comes through i will be sure to reach back out and connect to explore the possibilities !

God Bless,

Shane

Joe Funari · Answer

@Shane Elias-Calles I recommend @Andrew Postell for an investor friendly lender. He is also very active here on BP. So reach out to him. He has helped some of my fellow investors, as well as, help me with refinancing a few of my rentals here in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. I also recommend McCaw Property Management to manage rentals too. As with Andrew Postell, McCaw Property Management manages all my rentals. I have worked for many years on the PM side of the fence and would rather have a PM manage my properties for me. As one great mentor of mine said when choosing to self manage or professionally managed "treat your real estate business like a hobby or a business? Choose wisely." Best advise I could receive. Regarding a realtor I can help with that as well. But when your looking for one definitely look for one that is a fellow investor, knows what to look for in potential rental properties, and can recommend good contractors and PM's to help you run your business. A good investor/realtor has a system down for running both sold and rent comps to help you make a sound decision on aquiring your next investment property. Good luck in your search.

Anna Catron · Answer

Cool.  Very good explanation.  I love my broker, and I know most of the answers to those questions, but I'll ask if there's any difference when my loan goes to Wells Fargo.  Thanks!

Anna Catron · Answer

@Andrew Postell.  I hear people talking about this quite a bit, selling the loan.  Why should I care if my lender sells my loan?  The terms stay the same, so what am I not seeing?  Thanks!!

Andrew Postell · Answer

@Anna Catron I certainly agree above that customer service thing is a part of it - I don't want to be sold to a jerk company...but it happens and I just continue to pay.  And maybe selling the mortgage isn't a deal breaker...but I want to know up front for sure.  HOWEVER, having worked both sides of this if a lender sells a mortgage....that means they have to "fit" into that lender's lending rules.  So if that lender has even a SMALL fraction of overlays it might make you a very small percentage worse on your conditions.  And you as a consumer may not even be aware that these conditions exist. Or that they aren't really needed.  The questions above are an attempt to help an average consumer to discover if their lender is any good at this stuff.  So if they "hem and haw" and every question....that might be a good indication of things with that lender.  In some cases SELLING the mortgage is a good thing...if they are a broker for example.  A broker is designed to offer a lot of options for you...but they don't keep loans.  The exchange in that relationship is that they can offer MORE options for you than most.  A good broker will be able to tell you WHY it's ok that they don't keep their mortgages.  There are TONS of things I could keep going about but those 10 are just a gauge that will help a consumer find out about their lenders.  Selling the mortgage could, maybe, might affect you...but maybe not.  Just good to know up front and good to ask all the same.

Nicholas Covington · Answer

@Anna Catron from my perspective it’s more of a customer service thing. Personally I think the same way you do and was trained that very few people care about this as you still have to pay regardless. Andrew might have a better reason to why but I have always heard of it as a marketing ploy. There have been a few nightmares out there were servicing providers have changes and the client didn’t realize. The new provider dropped the ball in correctly reaching out to their clients and thus were not taking payments, causing defaults and other legal actions.

Shane Elias-Calles · Answer

@Andrew Postell Hey Andrew, Could you please do me a huge favor and just tag me in one of the posts in the texas forum, just so that i can find the one you are specifically talking about. If you could that would be wonderful. Thank you again for reaching out. and you will be one of the first ones i call when I need a lender.

God Bless.

@Steve Rozenberg Thank you for being willing to share your resources. I have taken down your name and number and will be in contact as i start to take the steps to getting that first property under contract.

God Bless.

Shane Elias-Calles · Answer

@Steve Rozenberg Thank you for the interview questions there are definately some things that i had not considered and will make sure to include them during the interview process.

Dallas TX real estate agent ?

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