All Forum Posts by: Andrew Herrig

What is your ultimate goal? Are you looking for cash flow to quit your day job? Accumulate properties for retirement? Just looking to earn better than 1% on your cash sitting in the bank?

For me, while I have a good W-2 income, and interest rates are insanely low, I want to accumulate as much debt as I can. Obviously I don't want to get in a negative cash flow situation, but if the numbers work, I want to take on as many loans as I can.

I try to buy rentals around 1.2-1.3% in Dallas. It is certainly do-able, but you will not find those kinds of deals on the MLS. I am finding these properties mostly in the inner-ring suburbs, houses built in the 1950s-1960s, and B or C+ neighborhoods.

In A neighborhoods, you are going to have a tough time hitting a 1% rent/price ratio.

In case you missed it...

Get access to my wholesale deals in Dallas / Fort Worth area at http://www.andrewbuyshousesdfw.com/investors

I market directly to all of Dallas County and parts of Collin County. If you're looking for deals in specific areas, let me know.

Painting should cost $1-1.50 per square foot of living space for interior and about the same for exterior. That doesn't include cabinets. I would think what you are trying to do shouldn't cost more than $3000-3500. 

@Patrick Appau I have received a similar message. They do have a trademark on "we buy houses" which is ridiculous because it is a common phrase used by every investor I know. They might as well have trademarked "for sale by owner" or "for rent".

Have you resolved this with them? I have talked to an attorney and I really don't think their trademark would hold up in court, but I don't have tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight it.

@Chad Heaton

I have gotten the same demand letter. It is trademarked and the company is threatening legal action. However, "we buy houses" is a common phrase and I don't know any investors who DON'T use it.

Maybe I should trademark "For Sale by Owner" and charge a royalty every time someone puts a sign out...

The unfortunate thing is it's a big company vs. little investor. If they threaten legal action, I don't have tens or hundreds of thousand of dollars to fight it.

@Marcus Martinez Just get started. Try to talk to 5 potential sellers per day. You can find FSBOs on Zillow or Craigslist, call landlords posting their rentals online, drive for dollars and send them direct mail. I wouldn't bother setting up any legal entities or even designing a business card until you have done a deal or two. Everything but talking to motivated sellers is a distraction.

@Ben Thomas As long as you consider 5 months a year of 100+ degree weather "nice", Texas is a great place. My wife moved from Illinois to Texas and she loved the heat for 2 or 3 years, but she's over it ever since...

David DeLand I would start going to REIA meetings in your area and offer to work for free for other investors. With no money, getting started on your own is tough. Find a good mentor to learn from. If you have some money for a down payment, you could connect with an agent to look for rentals on the MLS - you aren't going to find a great deal probably, but it's a good place to start.

@Kelton Johnson It really depends on the level of renovations. Rough ballpark I would expect to spend about $20/sf to do a full cosmetic rehab with basic materials (kitchen, baths, floors, paint, fixtures, etc.)

If you separate it out, I would say maybe $5k for typical bathroom gut, $10-15k for kitchen gut.

What area of Dallas is this in? Those are pretty good numbers.