What are people’s thoughts on the area around TCU campus and near Botonic Gardens and Dickies Arena? Not from the area so I don’t have first hand knowledge. Figured I’d get the opinion of those with a closer look. Thanks all.

TCU area is pretty expensive...nice area though.

Will be interesting if we decide to have in person classes again and if that affects prices.

If students don't need to be at campus for class, that's the main demand driver around there.

I used to flip homes in Arlington Heights and North Hi Mount near the cultural district and new Dickie’s Arena.  I’d stick to flips there IF you can find a deal but it doesn’t cash flow if you’re looking for rentals

I agree, prices are high in this area. It is a great area IF you can find a deal. Rent prices around TCU are much higher than the surrounding area but this is driven by the college students and you will likely have turnover year after year. This is definitely one of the areas of FW we keep our eye on, but with the understanding it may take longer to find a deal. 

@Andrew Nichols you mention it won’t cash flow. Do you find it hard to cash flow anything in the city of Fort Worth with how high property taxes are?

@Travis Fairbairn

I have trouble finding any 3/2/2 all brick homes that cash flow well in DFW lately. Prices have risen significantly over the years along with property taxes which makes this a difficult rental environment. From my point of view, some local investors seem willing to accept mediocre deals just to keep growing their portfolio. I'm stubborn so I haven't succumbed to this yet. Am I losing out? Hindsight is 20/20 and so the past 4 years tell me I am. I'm interested to see what happens in the coming year as the Fed's actions phase out - we could see a steady rise in foreclosures which could provide a buying opportunity. But I've said similar things before and waited... and waited...

For anybody interested how I arrived at this conclusion, I normally focus on the BRRRR strategy to keep cash in my pocket. To do that, I'm aiming to buy, rehab, rent, refinance and get ALL the cash out that I put in AND get it to cash flow positively.

In my cash flow calculation I use:

75% LTV (ideally replenishing all the cash I've invested)

30yr note @ 4% (though I've heard some investors getting as low as 3.7% lately)

Vacancy 5%

Repairs 5%

CapEx 5%

Property Management 10%

It's true that if you cut back on some of these or manage it yourself that it's going to look better but you're just raising your risk and I prefer to stay on the conservative side. I also compare all properties using the same values to get an apples to apples comparison. If it's down to 2 properties, I may adjust the numbers based on age of the house or recent improvements that might lower the risk.

I'm always interested to hear how others analyze properties, so feel free to share.

Andy

@Andrew Nichols I have a rental in Arl Hi that works well... AirBnB. I cashflow $1,500 after all expenses including prop tax.

@James Primavera Other than short term rentals in the Arlington Heights or TCU area, I don't think you can make a decent return on rentals. Flips in just about any area will work as long as you buy with enough margin.

@Travis Fairbairn I find you can get cashflowing rentals still in Northside, Stop 6 and surrounding areas, and if you really buy right, in the Como area (this area is getting overpriced though).

@Ryan Blake how big of a deal are school districts for you when you determine where you want to invest? In reference to stop 6 and north side.

Also, have you run into any trouble with Fort Worth’s viewpoint on Airbnb and short term rentals?

Yes with districts. The problem is the rents don’t increase the same as the home prices when looking at districts.

I haven’t had many issues with Fort Worth. They have also legitimized STRs by charging a 19% tax starting this year.

@Andrew Nichols , may I ask... the deals you are finding, are you finding them yourself or using a wholesaler? I wonder how much the numbers change for a BRRRR when you use a wholesaler.

@Travis Fairbairn - I have found some through realtor connections off-market, some on the MLS (back in 2011-2012), and I get loads of wholesaler properties as well.

The numbers are the numbers... wholesale deals are usually cheaper but often require more work. I analyze them all and estimate the rehabs to adjust. The BRRRR method relies on the rehab portion or discount to be significant enough that you can refinance 100% of your investment and end up with a house with 25% equity yet still cash flow. The cash flow part is the trouble.

@Andrew Nichols

Yeah it seems to be worse right now in this market....

Any referrals for wholesalers? (That you would be willing to share if at all haha)

@Travis Fairbairn

Sorry, didn't see this post until now.

On the Fort Worth side try Nick Poulous with NewWestern.com

Also try:

webuyhomesinusa.com

risedfw.com

Randy with homewoodproperties.com

I haven't bought properties through any of them, but between New Western, WeBuyHomesInUSA, and Homewood, they keep my inbox full.  Not saying they're deals, but they do have volume.

Andy