All Forum Posts by: Andy Webb

My in-laws live in Pflugerville and every time we drive down there, all I see is growth.  I think that area is great...now the question becomes getting in at a good price, since ATX is on fire.

Good luck!

As a Realtor I use the MLS - very straight-forward search. But a lot of landlords list themselves with things like Zillow rent manager. I will never see those in the MLS.

I just want to bang on the drums all day...

I would say 30% is high, though it would depend on the scope of work and total dollar amount.  But as with anything else, you can probably negotiate the payment schedule to some degree.  Just get everything in writing.

@Adam Talbot -  San Antonio will be similar to DFW I imagine, and I think you landed on the reality in the long run:  when working with subs directly, you can and should definitely pay after the job.  Perhaps you pay for materials, but pay them for their labor afterwards, once you are satisfied with the work.

But if you are hiring a GC for a $50k rehab, then you can expect to pay in several tranches, say 6 x $8k with $2k upon final punch list completion, or something along those lines.  So not the entire amount up front, your main risk will be that first installment. Then you should pay each following installment after agreed milestones - and make sure the work is getting done.  The key here is to seriously vet that GC before you give them the 1st installment.

@Allan Smith - Thanks!  I talked with a few other local investors about Buildium, but have been putting of paying...

You are right, tenants opening mails...a whole other issue of course.  But I will sleep better knowing I put forth the effort!

Just curious - what sort of rent can you get per room in a house there?

@Nancy Lucca - Interest on most hard-money loans is pretty straight-forward and the rate should be an annual rate. In your example, I am assuming that the $500k number you gave is the after-repaired value (ARV) - e.g. after it is fixed up. HMLs normally loan around 70% of ARV for flips. So your max loan amount would be $350k ($500 x .70). I will assume the HML interest rate is 12% per annum. So the math:

350,000 x .12 = $42,000 in interest per year /12 = $3500 per month

Absolutely!  And you are in Houston - the numbers down there are looking pretty darn good these days.

Anyone using mailchimp for regular, ongoing communications with tenants? Things like regular reminders to change filters, or freeze warnings as needed...Any tips or tricks to help me build out a system there?

To date we just manage our SFR portfolio using a system in Excel that I have built out for financials and other things, plus eRentpayment for rent collections, so I don't have any particular subscription software that I am using that might already provide this sort of mail service. For my volume of SFRs, mailchimp is free which works for my budget!...but of course any other suggestions are welcome.

Thank you!