Duplexes in Lewisville, Texas (or North Dallas generally)

Dallas, Texas
General Real Estate Investing
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Duplexes in Lewisville, Texas (or North Dallas generally)

Caleb Brake
Member since 2022 · 3 posts · 2 votes

Hey BP community,

I'm a newish investor in Lewisville, TX. I bought my first home as a primary residence 2 years ago, and my first rental last year (exciting times). When I move out of my primary to rent it out, it def won't cash flow. And the more I look at the numbers in Lewisville, the more I'm seeing that rent prices are no longer keeping up with equity appreciation (which, in the case of me now owning a few properties, will be a good problem to have in a few years). That being said, I'm interested in small multi-family since it will likely cashflow positively (at least a little) from day one. The goal is to not eat losses every month for the next 5 years while I wait for rent and price appreciation. For context, my rent will just cover my PITI for my primary, nothing more--interest rate is 6.3% on a 300k home (so side question, are other people also just getting PITI covered by rent in North Dallas single-family homes, or am I just bad at this?? Might be a little bit of both).

My main question is for those who have invested in the Lewisville (or more generally North Dallas) area--do you know if there are many duplexes around? I've been scouring the inter-webs for duplexes, but it doesn't seem like that's really a THING in North Dallas. Am I looking in the wrong places? Or is there just too much land in Texas, so instead of building duplexes, people just keep building further east and north? Or maybe, that's just a function of suburbs in general, where they are designed to be comfortable (so defacto, no small multifamily)? I know there are some in Dallas proper closer to downtown, but I was curious if they existed in the more suburban/urban hybrid areas like Lewisville or Plano (though I'm pretty priced out of Plano for now).

Thanks for the help! Looking forward to connecting with others in the area!

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Bruce Lynn
Real Estate Broker · Coppell, TX · Member since 2011 · 5k+ posts · 4k+ votes
2y

@Caleb Brake   I've been working and investing in this market for about 25 years now.  You're pretty much right on track.  Sounds like you are off to a great start.

#1 we have relatively few duplexes in the whole North Texas area it seems, compared to other parts of the country.  Same with 4plex. Rare do I see a 3plex.  When you said Lewisville, I'm almost scratching my head to think of the last duplex I saw for sale in Lewisville.

#2.  Not sure that is a true statement about 2-3-4plex cash flowing vs single family with traditional investor financing.  What I see in today's market you will need about 30-40% down to break even or cash flow....on any type of property.

#3 You are correct that on single family and small multi the rents have not kept up with appreciation (sales prices.)

#4 New is probably worse on ROI. Not sure who buys these, but often I will see something like $475,000 duplex sales price that maybe rents for $1400/side....some $1000/side. Unless you just need a place to park cash, I don't see how you ever make money on those. I get some low rent today and often it seems in 3-4-5 years the rents work themselves out, but how long does it take for $1000 rent to go to $2000 let's say on a 2bedroom 2bath unit in the less desirable part of town?

Every now and then you can find a gem, but it isn't easy.  I would stay open to all opportunities not just Lewisville and not just a certain type of property.

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  • Bruce Lynn
    Real Estate Broker · Coppell, TX · Member since 2011 · 5k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    2y

    @Caleb Brake   I've been working and investing in this market for about 25 years now.  You're pretty much right on track.  Sounds like you are off to a great start.

    #1 we have relatively few duplexes in the whole North Texas area it seems, compared to other parts of the country.  Same with 4plex. Rare do I see a 3plex.  When you said Lewisville, I'm almost scratching my head to think of the last duplex I saw for sale in Lewisville.

    #2.  Not sure that is a true statement about 2-3-4plex cash flowing vs single family with traditional investor financing.  What I see in today's market you will need about 30-40% down to break even or cash flow....on any type of property.

    #3 You are correct that on single family and small multi the rents have not kept up with appreciation (sales prices.)

    #4 New is probably worse on ROI. Not sure who buys these, but often I will see something like $475,000 duplex sales price that maybe rents for $1400/side....some $1000/side. Unless you just need a place to park cash, I don't see how you ever make money on those. I get some low rent today and often it seems in 3-4-5 years the rents work themselves out, but how long does it take for $1000 rent to go to $2000 let's say on a 2bedroom 2bath unit in the less desirable part of town?

    Every now and then you can find a gem, but it isn't easy.  I would stay open to all opportunities not just Lewisville and not just a certain type of property.

    2Reply
  • Brian Adams
    Residential Real Estate Agent · Dallas, TX · Member since 2013 · 232 posts · 173 votes
    2y

    @Caleb Brake

    I just published my DFW 2-4 family report for 2024 here on my Bigger Pockets blog. 

    https://www.biggerpockets.com/member-blogs/10185/103320-dfw-...

    Same as what @Bruce Lynn said, duplexes and fourplexes ARE very rare in DFW, at least compared to most other Texas markets. 

    Fewer than 100 fourplexes sold on the MLS in the DFW MSA in 2023, a population of 6M people!

    And none of them in Collin or Denton counties. 

    Not sure if my MLS is broken or something crazy, but apparently ZERO duplexes OR fourplexes have sold in Collin in Denton counties in the past year.

    I even checked in Cross Property Search to make sure these aren't being advertised in a different category. 



    There may be some new construction duplex neighborhoods that are not in the MLS in N Dallas. But I am not aware of any myself.

    So if you are looking to house hack in N Dallas, I would focus on a value add SFR you can get under market, perhaps.

    1Reply
  • Bruce Lynn
    Real Estate Broker · Coppell, TX · Member since 2011 · 5k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    2y

    @Brian Adams   I show a few duplexes sold in Denton and Plano this year.  I know of one more I think in Frisco. but not many....something like 15 in Denton and Collin County.

    There's a few for sale in Grayson and several new construction available in Greenville right now (Hunt) County.  Those aren't always in the best locations (like next to railroad tracks) and on infill lots typically, but they're out there.

    Not sure where the MLS is wrong...they're there, but probably agents flagged them wrong somewhere that they don't show up in your search. Maybe uncheck the sub property type.

    0Reply
  • Brian Adams
    Residential Real Estate Agent · Dallas, TX · Member since 2013 · 232 posts · 173 votes
    2y

    @Bruce Lynn

    I had Unlock open, not NTREIS. Duh. I knew that didn't pass the sniff test. Thank you for the correction!

    1Reply
  • Diego AlvaradoBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent · Flower Mound, TX · Member since 2016 · 298 posts · 140 votes
    2y

    @Brian Adams I am actively looking at this and there are duplex in the area.

    @Caleb Brake I have investments in Lewisville and it is true that Lewisville and surrounding don't have any 2,3,4plex.

    This is not to say that there isn't any but it has turn out that the duplex available are been sold individually as residential and not income because the sale price is higher that way.

    SFH with a down of 40% / 50% in Lewisville will give you a good return. Prices are keep going down and rentals up.

    My portfolio currently is in Lewisville and it is giving good performance.

    Denton has Xplex and other MF but they don't have a good return. The capex is 3% and ROI is bad even with the appreciation.

    I keep looking but best places now to invest in plexs is Fort Worth and Arlington, there is a lot and with good returns.

    I am currently working with a group of investors to close a couple of duplexs, one in Arlington and another one in Fort Worth.

    [email protected]214-833-8911
    Alvarado Realty Group522 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    1Reply
  • Jay HurstBusiness Member
    Lender · Dallas, TX · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    2y
    Quote from @Caleb Brake:

    Hey BP community,

    I'm a newish investor in Lewisville, TX. I bought my first home as a primary residence 2 years ago, and my first rental last year (exciting times). When I move out of my primary to rent it out, it def won't cash flow. And the more I look at the numbers in Lewisville, the more I'm seeing that rent prices are no longer keeping up with equity appreciation (which, in the case of me now owning a few properties, will be a good problem to have in a few years). That being said, I'm interested in small multi-family since it will likely cashflow positively (at least a little) from day one. The goal is to not eat losses every month for the next 5 years while I wait for rent and price appreciation. For context, my rent will just cover my PITI for my primary, nothing more--interest rate is 6.3% on a 300k home (so side question, are other people also just getting PITI covered by rent in North Dallas single-family homes, or am I just bad at this?? Might be a little bit of both).

    My main question is for those who have invested in the Lewisville (or more generally North Dallas) area--do you know if there are many duplexes around? I've been scouring the inter-webs for duplexes, but it doesn't seem like that's really a THING in North Dallas. Am I looking in the wrong places? Or is there just too much land in Texas, so instead of building duplexes, people just keep building further east and north? Or maybe, that's just a function of suburbs in general, where they are designed to be comfortable (so defacto, no small multifamily)? I know there are some in Dallas proper closer to downtown, but I was curious if they existed in the more suburban/urban hybrid areas like Lewisville or Plano (though I'm pretty priced out of Plano for now).

    Thanks for the help! Looking forward to connecting with others in the area!


     You best bet for duplexes are going to be East Dallas and North Oak Cliff. There are also some MFH options in north Dallas (Inside the loop so actual Dallas).  A lot of the suburbs literally will not allow 2-4 units buildings per their zoning. 

    Hurst Real Estate, INC4.992 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    1Reply
  • Caleb Brake
    OP
    Member since 2022 · 3 posts · 2 votes
    2y

    Thanks for the feedback and advice! This is all super helpful. I’m also glad to know I’m not crazy, and to just keep looking/buying when I’m able.

    0Reply
  • Al Richey
    Rental Property Investor · Denton, TX · Member since 2012 · 10 posts · 4 votes
    2y

    Caleb, we should connect and have a conversation. I’ve had success with duplexes, but all have been outside of Denton County.  Multifamily property in Denton county is rare and as expected quite overpriced.

    0Reply
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