All Forum Posts by: Frank Houng

I'm considering to invest in Dallas/Fort Worth area.   Subject property is a 14 unit complex,  built in 1980s,  decent condition with no major repair anticipated.   All units 2 bed/2bath, current rent average $ 750/unit, asking price is $ 750k

Is this a good deal for the area?

Thank you for your valuable insights.   I'll take your advise and take some preemptive action 

Hi Folks:

I invested a 14 unit townhome in Dallas area end of 2013.   The subject property was built in 2007, so I imagine the AC are about 7 years old (warranty was for 5 years)

Since I bought the units, we have continuous report of AC problem in different units,  most of them seem to be pointing to the same issue:   Coil rusted and leaking.   We ended up replacing the coils on each of the cases.  6 cases so far,  costing $ 1955 each time (to replace 3 ton coil, refill freon, and labor.

Since I live in California, and these investments units are in TX,   I'm not sure if it's wrong to judge these repairs based on my experience from California.   But normally I do expect AC to last longer, 10 to 15 years.   And statistically 6 units out of 14 is a rather high percentage.     My impression is that there could be maintenance issues that my property manager may need to teach or talk to the tenants.  Or perhaps if it's not maintenance problem,  then we could be looking at similar issues with the other 8 units very soon.   If that's the case,  would it not make more sense to take preemptive action and have someone check them out?   This way, if we discover similar problems,  at least we can negotiate a discount for 8 units, rather than pay for each unit as they come along.

By the way,  these AC are Byant model: FA4CNF036

Thank you for your valuable opinion and advise in advance.

I agree with both Curt and Mark. You can save money with ARM and you can get yourself in trouble. There is no perfect mortgage for everyone. You have to know who you are and your risk tolerance.

We live in Southern California, and as a just starting out real estate investor, California home prices seem to be too high.    We recently turned our focus out of state, but find it's harder to get financing for our out of state real estate purchases.

I'm not sure if it's right way to go to my local bank in California and ask them to consider financing our out of state purchases,  or may be I need to go to a bank in the area where we are investing, and ask the bank to do a local deal for an out of state investor.

Also it seems to be harder as a new real estate investor because the bank I deal with does not consider my real estate income as part of my income since it's very new addition.   From what I was told, my bank would not start considering my rental income as a landlord until the property has 2 year operating history

Anyone has experience with financing out of state deals?