All Forum Posts by: Curt Riffel

I'm not the person you are seeking, but what are some of the preferences for the housing you are seeking? A condo, single-family home, townhome? How many beds and how many bathrooms? Is this for you to live in and in the future rent out? Are the school districts important, what about night life, what about parks? Do you want to live within easy access of a toll-road, highway, or DART?

I personally would not consider cashing out of the 401K. The taxes and penalties are steep. I'd sit on it for 25 years until retirement age when you can avoid the high taxes and penalties. It is unlikely you would find a 10% return on the funds, which would be the penalty off the top. If you believe you will have more income in retirement, thus pushing you to a higher tax bracket in the future, you might consider cashing out now. 

I lived in The Colony when I first moved to DFW. I think its a good area to own a property. A little north for my tastes, but closer than Frisco. I think you would do well to own a property in this area and it should continue to have steady or appreciating home values. This area is booming with investment; within close proximity are The Star of Frisco, Toyota, and Nebraska Furniture Mart. 

The mayor of Dallas asked DFW to 'grow south' but the suburb of Frisco upped the ante by having billions and billions poured into construction in the area. South Dallas can't compete with this level of investment. I can envision more and more residents moving north due to the professional jobs that will available soon. 

Also when you purchase a house in Texas, if you are using a VA loan like I did, you should also look into getting a Mortgage Credit Certificate. The MCC is a great program for veterans to save on their federal taxes a portion of the interest they pay each year towards their mortgage.

For example if I pay $4200 in mortgage interest, 40% of it can be used as a tax credit. $4200*(0.4)=$1680. So if I owe $7000 in taxes it is now lowered by $1680 for a total of $5320. The remaining interest can still be used as a tax deduction if you qualify (many people will just use the standard deduction).

$2 draft night, my favorite night there. I'm not good at networking and I work until 6:30pm that night. Otherwise I'd totally be there. Socialization in general isn't my strong suite. 

Thanks for answering, I had the same question. Wife and I are looking to purchase a rental property in Dallas area soon. We might possibly do short term rentals like Airbnb. 

I found this one on the website.  https://www.biggerpockets.com/files/user/drobertson/file/house-flipping-spreadsheet---lite

The fact that you lived there one year is inconsequential since it was over 5 years ago. In order to avoid capital gains tax for home ownership you must live in the house for 2 out of the last 5 years. The 1031 exchange sounds like the best option in this case.

@Devin Harris welcome to BP!  I think we have some similar backgrounds. I went to Texas Tech for undergrad and also served 4 years in the military. I recently finished my graduate studies at UT Dallas obtaining a Masters in Accounting. I also would like to pick up some rental properties and generate passive income in the future.

Best of luck in your future endeavors! I have a VA loan on my house that I reside in currently. Its nothing too exciting, but being a resident of Texas you need to look at the MCC, mortgage credit certificate. Its a tax credit that is fantastic. Either 35 or 40% of the interest I pay is given as a credit on my federal taxes. As a Texas veteran you qualify if the property you purchase meets the criteria (I think less than $250,000?). However finding a loan agent that knows anything about the MCC is the hard part. I went through 2 lenders that had no idea how to file the paperwork before I went to the MCC website and found a competent lender. If you have any questions about this let me know.

@Jonatan Barbera What makes you say that many 'flippers' are not making money in the San Antonio area? 

I'm not suggesting that they are, but I'm curious as to the market forces you are witnessing that would cause you to say that.