All Forum Posts by: Andy Webb

We used to send out a Christmas card with a gift card for a local restaurant, but stopped a year or so ago when our portfolio reached a size that we decided it no longer made sense.  Did not seem to make a difference one way or the other in any renewals since then.

Andy

Come on down to Texas - it doesn't get much more landlord-friendly than we are here.  And with people moving here in droves...the rental market is great.

Andy

Are you using a TREC contract?  Did you receive a Seller's Disclosure?  If so, when?

Andy

We never charge a deposit.  Just a non-refundable pet fee (now at $350) - this is essentially an accelerated pet rent; plus a nominal monthly pet rent on top.

@Travis Walker - talk to a mortgage broker (like  @Andrew Postell - he is on this site quite a bit), and see if you can qualify for a long-term loan with your debt-to-income (DTI) ratio as it stands. That may dictate the direction you can take.

Also keep in mind that if you buy a rental you will want to keep some cash reserves on hand to handle maintenance/cap ex - of course that depends on the condition of the property you buy, or the level of rehab you do if you fix one up. 

Andy

For the non-TX folks - those rains can really do a number on a house and lift the foundation on one or multiple sides.  Our clay gets wet and can expand to 4x the normal volume.  Then dries out and the reverse happens.  Normally my problem is tenants not watering in a very dry summer and the soil pulls away from the foundation and the darn thing sinks...

@Andrew Smith - what price point is your house?  What city or zipcode?  

@Fatin K. - $350 before contigencies is definitely doable. I see a decent number of those in our market still. We are fixing one up now over in Haltom City that will clear around $400 after PITI once we refi out of hard-money and into a 30-year fixed.

Are you planning to buy straight conventional with 15% or similar down, or go for one that needs work?

Andy

Prices are going to be very high in those areas and property taxes as well - I here complaints from other investors all the time RE taxes in Collin County and how badly it is eating their cash flow.  Collin County is very inflexible when it comes to protesting the tax appraised value.  I would look in Tarrant County or in some of the cities south of Dallas city proper (Desoto, Cedar Hill, Duncanville for example).

Andy

I am also interested in traveling nurses (don't tell my wife). But seriously, are you in touch with a particular company that manages the nurses / how are you marketing it?

Most of our rentals are the standard long-term type, but we are looking at renting out our primary residence when we hit the road for some travels and would like to keep the furniture, etc in place.  It seems like the traveling nurses or some other corporate tenant would be ideal for shorter terms (since we may want to come back through town from time to time).

Thanks and congrats!

Andy

Thanks @Dennis Maynard - that is precisely my question: does anyone have an area company they would recommend?   There are a ton of exterminators out there...who is the good one with a decent price?