All Forum Posts by: Alyssa Dyer

@BJ Min I would purchase several properties in "high-risk" areas of OKC & over-improve them. Rent them at competitive rent rates to tenants that approve auto-draft each month. In the high-risk areas you can purchase with 40-60k. I offset risk and vacancy by locking in a long term tenant with a competitive rate and great cosmetic condition. Then I cash flow well as I wait for appreciation. It will be a long-term play because appreciation is low and slow here, but some of the highest risk areas are right outside of very popular areas (huge river renovation/development and out the medical district, think hospitals, research facilities, med school), so it's a good bet! 

@Ryan Taylor just wanted to chime in that in my experience in Oklahoma it's super common for mineral rights not to be transferred! 

Hey @Jason Cacioppo you can get paid on your own deals as long as you're a licensed agent! Also, duel agency is totally okay here! I do disagree with Russel. I'm typically working with 60-80k houses in OKC and if someone is licensed and wants a referral fee I'm happy to work with them. Don't be afraid to ask whoever you work with in Tulsa!

@Zack Williams happy to answer any questions about OKC for you! Feel free to reach out. 

@Kurt Michaelson thanks for the shout out. Richard and I have been chatting! 

I'll throw in my 2 cents. This is all from experience in Oklahoma, so it may differ for the market you're diving into. Happy to answer any questions! 

What we like:

1. The government pays a portion or all of the rent. That’s a guaranteed payment every month.

2. If a section 8 tenant doesn’t pay they are at risk for losing their assistance.

3. Oklahoma is VERY landlord-friendly, even with section 8. If tenants don’t pay we are able to evict in ~45 days for under $500. Of course, this only applies to this market!

4. Again only for this market, for 4 and 5 bedroom homes, the government is willing to pay higher than market rent rates for section 8 tenants. That said a tenant often pays a portion of their rent, so you must update cosmetics, etc to make it worth the applicant's extra payment to you in order to actually get applicants at a higher rate. You also have to prove to section 8 that the property is worthy of higher payment.

5. We see section 8 tenants have longer stays at properties. It’s not across the board, but it is common.

What do be aware of:

1. Your first 3 months of rent payment will be delayed after you take over ownership. This is providing time for the agency to process the change in ownership in their end. You will be paid all back pay.

2. Your property manager should handle all correspondence/paperwork/leasing with section 8. No extra burden should come to you personally.

3. Once a property is qualified for section 8 it does not mean that you can ONLY lease to section 8 tenants. At turnover, you can market to section 8, non-section 8 in conjunction. Or if you no longer want to market to section 8 tenants, that’s totally fine!

4. If you have a section 8 tenant in place, once a year section 8 requires an inspection and repair of anything they deem deficient. Your PM should schedule this and also schedule any repairs and ensure that you stay within the guidelines. The repair requests are sometimes a bit nitpicky, but if a section 8 tenant has been in place for some time we are very rarely surprised by what comes up on these requests. The requests are a bit more expensive if it’s the first time you’re getting approved by section 8.

How you should best position yourself:

Because section 8 tenants often have families there can sometimes be more wear and tear on your house. We suggest keeping costs low by replacing any damaged items with durable items. So LVP instead of carpet, dome lights instead of ceiling fans etc.

@Sonya Marin no problem at all. Just sounded like a great resource. That's a lot to digest though! 

@John Fish I'm in the same boat. I like almost turnkey. Properties that are ready to go but that haven't been fully flipped so you get them for ~40k less and a higher cap rate. I saw one go yesterday for 70k, tenant in place, only 4 items on the inspection report, 8% cap. Not bad! 

@Alyssa Feliciano I agree with others that 14k is a tight budget, but it's not impossible. I just saw a house in OKC go for 47k. It's at an 8% cap now, but after a light (4-6k) upgrade it'll be at an 11% cap! Maybe you can get into something small like that with the potential to look even better later on when you have more cash! 

Most of the investors I see come to OKC focus on C class. Totally agree with you. Solid cash flow, easy entry point. People get hung up on the butterflies of cosmetics, but the bottom line is that a 100k property and a 60k property will have deferred maintance along the way, but one of those choices leaves me with almost enough cash to buy another property!