Hello! New to real estate and BiggerPockets from Houston, TX!

Hello! New to real estate and BiggerPockets from Houston, TX!

Sugar Land, TX · Member since 2017 · 49 posts · 10 votes

Hi all!

My name is Roshan and I am new to both real estate investing and BiggerPockets.  I came across the site a few years ago and would get the newsletter by email.  Lately I've seen a lot of interesting articles from BP so I decided to check it out more.  I've started listening to the podcasts from the beginning (on episode 12 now, looong way to go!). 

My wife and I both work full time as Pharmacists in Houston and we have 2 little girls.  We recently launched an ecommerce maternity apparel company and are working to grow that every day.  Apparently I still have some time and energy left to finally get around to learning more about RE and actually getting started!

I've always been interested in real estate, just never invested.  Buy and hold seems most appealing to me since we would both keep our "day" jobs.  I would love to start with fourplexes and eventually end up in 50+ unit multifamily properties.  I am planning on buying our first property in Nov. 2017 and have about $100K to put towards that.  In the meantime I want to learn as much as possible and hopefully develop some good relationships with others on BP and in the local area.

2Reply
16 views

Most Popular Reply

Investor · Austin, TX · Member since 2013 · 933 posts · 1k+ votes
9y

Hi Roshan,

You are off to a solid start.  BP is a great area.  You might also want to check into some local MF meetup groups in your area.  To me, you will be in 5 years by how many books you read and people you meet (borrowed quote from Charlie Tremendous Jones) but it's really helped me.  This business is relationships and team work.  The lone rangers make it harder on themselves and don't progress as fast, nor have as much fun.  Think who can I learn from and how can I add value to others.  You will be surprised how fast you can prosper with that mental foundation.  More than happy to share some fast track approaches, just reach out to me as we are just up the road.

See this reply in the discussion

17 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • Andrew SyriosPro Member
    Moderator
    Residential Real Estate Investor · Kansas City, MO · Member since 2014 · 10k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    9y

    Welcome to BP Roshan and good luck investing!

  • Sugar Land, TX · Member since 2017 · 49 posts · 10 votes
    9y

    Thank you @Andrew Syrios.  I'm excited to get going!

  • Rental Property Investor · Sugar Land, TX · Member since 2014 · 65 posts · 33 votes
    9y

    Hello Roshan, 

    Welcome to bigger pockets.  I also live in Sugar Land,  

    Do you plan on investing in Ft Bend County or in Harris County?

    Mike

  • Sugar Land, TX · Member since 2017 · 49 posts · 10 votes
    9y

    Hi @Michael Powell.  I'm not sure yet about Ft Bend County or Harris County.  At present, my thinking is that I would prefer rentals in more established and steady areas in terms of rental demand.  Areas that serve the medical center, Montrose etc.  Although those places are pricier, I would think they stay rented without much trouble.  I definitely don't think flipping would be for me, I would rather have a turnkey property.  How about you?  Where are your 4 SFRs?  Have you had positive experiences with SFRs in general in our market?

    Roshan

  • Rental Property Investor · Sugar Land, TX · Member since 2014 · 65 posts · 33 votes
    9y

    Roshan,

    All my rentals are in north Harris County for now, but I'm thinking about doing a 1031 exchange to acquire a multi family property closer to home.  Since I moved to Sugar Land its quite a drive to check on rentals an hour away.  

    My rentals are doing well, the rents have steadily increased and I've had some good tenants.  I also don't find flipping houses very appealing.  

    Do you plan to manage your properties or hire a manager?

  • Professional · San Francisco, CA · Member since 2014 · 876 posts · 301 votes
    9y

    Welcome @Roshan Koppuzhayil, best of luck on your REI journey!

  • Sugar Land, TX · Member since 2017 · 49 posts · 10 votes
    9y

    Thank you @Leslie Pappas!

  • Sugar Land, TX · Member since 2017 · 49 posts · 10 votes
    9y

    @Michael Powell I'm glad the SFRs have been doing well for you. My main reason for thinking multifamily is that it is probably easier to scale.  I would like to buy a 400K to 500K property each year and hold onto them until they are paid off and then do 1031 exchanges on them for more units.  If you don't mind, please keep me posted on how your 1031 goes and who you use since I will most definitely be doing that at some point in the future.  At present I think I'll want to hire a property manager since I will continue to work full time.  I know its an added expense but hopefully I can find something that will still cash flow after that.  

    It sounds like you are managing on your own now?  Have you had to deal with vacancy a lot in your SFRs?  That's another mental hangup I have about SFRs as opposed to multifamily, I feel like replacing a tenant in a single family would take longer.  Does your experience so far mesh with that?

    Roshan

  • Real Estate Broker · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2016 · 569 posts · 351 votes
    9y

    hello! Mr. Roshan

    Welcome to BP community.

  • Professional · Carlsbad, CA · Member since 2012 · 12k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    9y

    @Roshan Koppuzhayil

    Welcome to Bigger Pockets. Make sure to read the Beginner’s Guide: http://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investing

  • Sugar Land, TX · Member since 2017 · 49 posts · 10 votes
    9y

    Thank you @Kai Kopsch and @Mark Nolan!

  • Sugar Land, TX · Member since 2017 · 49 posts · 10 votes
    9y

    Naples is a beautiful area @Kai Kopsch!  Would love to retire there someday.

  • Rental Property Investor · Sugar Land, TX · Member since 2014 · 65 posts · 33 votes
    9y

    Roshan,

    Your plan sounds good!  Multi-family could save you a lot of time over the long run because less deals are needed to accomplish the same cash flow as many houses.  You can also benefit from cheaper per unit pricing than buying single family.  If you've got the resources to jump into small apartments then I'd go for it!

    I didn't have any problems finding tenants for my SFR's because I work with a good realtor and and luckily I've been able to keep renewing tenants. However I did have to evict my first tenant!

    I will definitely keep you posted on the 1031 exchange once it happens.  

    Mike

  • Sugar Land, TX · Member since 2017 · 49 posts · 10 votes
    9y

    That sucks about the eviction @Michael Powell, but I'm sure you learned a lot from the experience.  I would love to get your realtor's name as I get closer to start looking later on.

  • Investor · Austin, TX · Member since 2013 · 933 posts · 1k+ votes
    9y

    Hi Roshan,

    You are off to a solid start.  BP is a great area.  You might also want to check into some local MF meetup groups in your area.  To me, you will be in 5 years by how many books you read and people you meet (borrowed quote from Charlie Tremendous Jones) but it's really helped me.  This business is relationships and team work.  The lone rangers make it harder on themselves and don't progress as fast, nor have as much fun.  Think who can I learn from and how can I add value to others.  You will be surprised how fast you can prosper with that mental foundation.  More than happy to share some fast track approaches, just reach out to me as we are just up the road.

  • Sugar Land, TX · Member since 2017 · 49 posts · 10 votes
    9y

    @David Thompson

    Thank you for the advice and I already love the BP community!  I have learned so much and continue to meet people that are doing very interesting things.  Love the fact that so many experts give freely of their time through posting on BP as well as being guests on the podcast.  It truly is a treasure trove of knowledge!  

  • Lender · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    9y

    @Roshan Koppuzhayil Welcome to bigger pockets!

Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.