All Forum Posts by: Anna Catron

We own 20 acres in the best school district and would like to house hack it by putting 2 homes on it.  Who do we contact first?  I've not read anything about mobile homes, but there seems to be a huge range of options.  We've BRRRRd two SFRs, but not mobile homes.  Any guidance would be amazing!

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $145,000
Cash invested: $6,000

2/1 converted to 3/1, 1600sf, 1/2 acre lot. Again, 1950s home, bought from a neighbor.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

SFRs are easy for newbies and while we knocked our first out of the park, we're not ready for multifamily.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Reece is great at schmoozing with older women! She wanted to sell and we knew the market was improving!

How did you finance this deal?

conventional

How did you add value to the deal?

Got rid of an ugly car port.
Added a bedroom.
Made the gross closed in porch into a very attractive space.
Again, floors and interior paint.
Basic landscaping.

What was the outcome?

Excellent tenants

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Racist old lady neighbor (not the seller) is causing difficulty for the tenants. We may lose them. My spouse and I viewed the situation differently which created growing pains for us.

We also learned our kids are quite the asset! 7, 9, 11 years old and rehabbing is honestly easier w them than without! Don't work w/o them!

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $130,000
Cash invested: $10,000

SFR 3/2, 1600SF, 1/2 ACRE LOT. 1953 home in fairly decent condition. We house hacked this. It was my grandmother's and she needed help. We lived w her 10 years, so shoulda bought earlier, oops. None the less, we paid rent by taking care of a 90 year old for 10 years while having our babies. We bought and rehabbed it in the months before moving out of town. The market also greatly increased and made a bad neighborhood into a trendy one. Current ZILLOW estimate is $200,000.00!

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Money, of course! My husband staying home is hugely important to us, so his real estate work is our second income. Rich Dad Poor Dad of course started my brain working 20 years ago.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

We saw the market increasing quickly, so asked Grandma's children if they were interested in selling at 130K. Because we'd been debt free, forever, we actually had to buy a minivan (we were 42 years old and it was our first car over 3k!) in order to create credit. 3 months later, once we had credit, the house was already worth 150k.

How did you finance this deal?

conventional

How did you add value to the deal?

Redid the hardwood floors, laminate flooring where there wasn't hardwood, paint inside and out, redid 2 bathrooms, very basic landscaping.

What was the outcome?

Fabulous renter that made basic repairs and then billed us $20/hr for his time. His wife was an amazing decorator and so we got great pics for the future! They finished their lease, showed the house for us and new tenants literally arrived the next day!

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Buy sooner!!! We lost tens of thousands of dollars bc we thought we couldn't afford to buy.

Redoing hardwoods is the only job I've ever seen that my spouse decided he hated enough to pay to have done next time.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Joe Kralik is AMAZING!! Mortgage lender that also invests in RE!

https://www.jgwentworth.com/mortgages/about/branch-locations/texas-austin/joe-kralik

I shouldn't say I wont do it again. I will use Roofstock (I think) next time. I still got some research to do on them, but so far I like what Im reading. When I sell my primary residence, I will not buy again, I will rent, and I will buy a couple of investment properties buy and hold. I think, lol. 

THIS IS THE BEST PART in the whole thread.  You're pissed, but not quitting.  You did learn a ton and will do so much better next time!!  Go you!!  Love hearing that you got screwed and are ready for round 2!!  Yes, we do need more of these stories, bc if I had to guess, in 10 years, you'll be a real estate GENIUS!!! 

I'm a big believer in Texas.  Most of the US is moving south, we encourage small business and our economy is one of the few that stood solid in 2008!

Thanks,

@Brit F. I didn't know that about the effect on our credit.  Still working to find a new casa, though my regular j-o-b is eating into my extra time/energy. 

Glad to know other females are in the game!

PERFECT! 

And I just had a question about the weather.  Rain doesn't scare me.  I'll put on extra deodorant just in case there's a big crowd and we're in the casa!

Thx, y'all!! I had come to the same conclusions so I just was making sure that others agreed with me! I really do appreciate your feedback! I feel a little bit isolated, but hopefully this weekend's meet up in Deep East Texas will help!

Alrighty, y'all!  So far it looks like about 16 people!  I'm about to go shopping and need a head count. Who's coming and what are you bringing?? Again, I'll have hamburgers/veggie burgers/fixin's, maybe some wine/beer. 

Yikes, I only see Pebble Creek near Appleby Sand.  We are approximately 3 miles West of Central Heights Middle School on FM 698.