All Forum Posts by: Derek Decoste

I am also trying to get hired by a commercial real estate company in Dallas in a financial anlalyst position. Although I haven't yet tried going to places and handing my resume instead of just applying online, I have noticed a few things. Most places, in addition to wanting you to have advanced Excel skills, are looking for competant Argus users as well.

I have not been able to find any help on learning Argus DCF anywhere online except for their site, and the training is all expensive. I have downloaded the trial version and played around with it a bit, but every one says the software is not very intuitive, even though it is the industry standard, and my first impression is the same. Anyone have any tips on learning the software?

I'm not sure if this helps Kyle, but I thought I would post my experience, or lack of, as well. :)

I've read up on the house bill 1823 that was passed in Texas a couple of years ago, and have a couple of questions about lease options currently. A friend wants to sell her house outside of Houston using a lease option, and wanted me to help her with it because I have more knowledge on the subject than her.

What do investors in Texas do when selling their houses on a lease option? I've read several different things, making sure it is under 3 years for one, but also some have said to create two different contracts completely, one for the option and another for the lease.

She was thinking about purchasing a form online and using that for the lease option, however, with the legalities that I've read about it seems better to get a lawyer to draw up a contract specifically for her.

Those are the main two issues I was thinking about, and any answers would be appreciated. Thanks

Derek

I want one!!! Wow if this gets built I will definitely go and see it when it is done. Bring one to Dallas!! haha

I realize this thread is really old, so I was wondering, How did the flip turn out? Looking forward to hearing your experiences and results.(hopefully)

I currently go to college at the University of Texas at Dallas in Richardson, TX and own one rental property that I live in and also rent out to four friends. I am looking to purchase additional properties to rent out in the future and was also wondering on others experience in renting to college students(while I am renting to them, I also live here and make sure everything is in order). While I don't have any experience land lording them, I do have friends that rent houses would be very cautious renting to other college students because of it.

Long story short, four of my friends got a house together, one of their girlfriends moved in the fifth room and absolutely ruined everything. The other three guys moved out about half way through their year long lease and the guy which stayed(the only one on the lease) and his girlfriend stayed but in no way could pay the rent. He eventually worked out a deal to get out of his lease early since the landlord knew he would never get paid much more rent. The landlord did get a very nicely hand made bar that my friends made while there and left, but I'm pretty sure his next tenants didn't want it and got thrown away.

Agreed. Although it got a tad ugly at times, I enjoy reading posts like this and I believe others do to. I believe that when two investors argue over issues is when less experienced investors can really start to see the intricacies of the business and learn a lot. Thanks guys and keep them coming.

Sounds nice and all....but we still have to live with the life we learned with... :D

I bought my first house May 1, last year, can't believe its almost been a year....I am in college and couldn't decide what to do for housing, and had a couple of friends going to rent a house together. I liked the idea, but didn't want to rent one, so i decided to buy a house and rent out all of the other rooms to friends. I bought one, me and 4 friends live here currently, 2 are moving out at the end of this semester and Ive got 2 more lined up to move in!! A water pipe leak and a leak through the roof has taught me some about fixing different kinds of problems, and overall its been a great learning experience. I'm currently thinking I want to flip a house next, and am doing all of my research/information gathering now, from various books/sites (including this great one). Hope to share more experiences with you all in the future.

Derek

million dollar property, not a house neccesarily, so this could be anything from a quadplex to a small apartment complex depending on where you live and what kind of shape its in

I saw your post and decided to sign up for the forum to share my story and maybe help you out. I am currently 21 years old, go to college in Dallas, Texas, and bought my first house about 8 months ago. Some friends of mine were going to rent out a house and it sounded like fun, but i didnt want to rent one and make the landlord rich. I had read tons of investment books, real estate books, all which had started with a high school teacher suggesting rich dad, poor dad, and i love her for it. I went to the Learning Annex seminar here in Dallas where I heard Kiyosaki and Trump talk about investing and wanted to get started but didn't know how.

After all of this research and wanting to do it I still couldn't figure out how, until my girlfriend one day said, "Why dont you just buy a house to live in with friends?" So I talked to a couple friends, found some that would live with me, found a house, and now i live in a 5 bedroom house with 4 roomates and the mortgage is paid off plus about 300 a month in profits for repairs etc. This has been a wonderful experience to get into the real estate investing world, learn quite a few things about investing and about myself, and strongly suggest living in your first investment with friends if this is a feasible situation.

There have been some emergency repairs, like a water pipe breaking in the ceilng of downstairs right above the tv, and I was able to fix it that day, and other things have come up that have forced me to learn different things that I need to know if I am going into real estate moreso in the future. It was also extremely nice to live in the house where the problems occured so I could deal with it without having to leave the house.

Sorry if this sortof just rambled on, but I hope in some way that this can help. Good Luck, Derek