All Forum Posts by: Garrott Nalle

@Kevin Sack There are several primary drivers that are bringing customers into Lubbock for short-term rentals. The first and most obvious would be the parents of Tech students and/or alumni that visit the university for sporting events. In addition to sporting events, the university also brings in students that are doing online or distance programs but are required to come in for in-person rotations at the campus. These are typically for Master and Doctoral level programs and many of the Health Sciences programs. A third driver for Lubbock guests, is our central location between Austin and Colorado, and New Mexico and Dallas/Fort Worth area. For smaller rentals (2/1's, efficiencies, and bedrooms) this is a great area to pick up one and two day stays consistently. A fourth driver for traffic in Lubbock comes from the numerous out-of-market contractors, wind energy companies, and travel nurses that stay in this area. These are some of your best and easiest renters to deal with. I've had a property for the last 8 months stay rented at $2100/month with minimal maintenance to three wind energy guys. This same property would typically rent for $1000-1200 in the area that it's in. Even with the added expense of utilities and internet, the cash flow is significantly higher. A fifth factor is people that actually want to visit Lubbock for one reason or another. We get a lot of people from the Clovis/Hobbs, New Mexico area that come in as well as numerous people that live within an hour or two of Lubbock that want to stay overnight or for a weekend. A sixth factor comes from foreign nationals that need a place to stay while living over here or studying at the university. These are few and far between but when they do come, they are willing to pay a premium and are very easy to deal with. A final factor comes from those that need a temporary place to stay due to selling a home, the new construction of a home, insurance repairs, or remodeling on a home. 

As to your question about occupancy, I would conservatively estimate 60-65% based on current experience. Initially your first month or two may be lower at 45-50% but it should pick up quite a bit once you have some good reviews on your property. Recently occupancy has been much higher on the majority of the properties I own or manage at 80+% but I would rather give a conservative general estimate for a new property.

@Corey Zant Hey Corey, I know we just spoke on the phone but I wanted to post here in case anyone else was interested in the Airbnb/short-term rental market in Lubbock. I currently run an Airbnb property management company in the Lubbock market (House Chaser Short-Term) and would be happy to speak with anyone that has questions about this niche. Lubbock has been and continues to be a wonderful opportunity for short-term rentals.

Hey Kaity! Welcome to the forums and thanks for showing interest in the Lubbock market. It's a great area to invest. I'm a local commercial banker that can point you in the right direction for financing as well as a licensed real estate agent. My fiancé and I really like the Airbnb and short term rental opportunities here in Lubbock. Feel free to reach out with any questions. There's plenty of people in this area with lots of good advice and many are willing to help.

Hey Matthew, I'm a realtor in Lubbock and can provide plenty of help to out of state investors. My primary career is in commercial banking which gives me a unique perspective on the finance and closing side of this market. Feel free to private message me if I could be of any help.

Austin Hughes reach out to Tyler Vernon at First State Bank Shallowater. They will do 80% of appraised value or 80% of as-complete appraised value depending on your situation. I just completed a refinance with them under these terms.

Hey Andrew! Glad to see another Lubbock guy here. There's a ton you can learn from this site.

Welcome to the forums, Eric! Glad to see another young investor from the West Texas area. Sounds like you've got a great start going in RE investing. If you ever make it to Lubbock or vice versa, let's grab lunch sometime.

Hey Liz, I'm a lender in Lubbock, TX with Vista Bank. Feel free to connect with me on here and I'll get you my contact information. Let me know if I can help with any questions about the Lubbock market. I would recommend my friend Jordan Sutherland as a good investor realtor here in Lubbock.

I think it's an over generalization to say that portfolio lenders only consider lending on bundled properties. The unique part about being a portfolio lender is that each organization develops their own lending policy that allows them to specify the type and terms of loans that they lend on. Your best bet is to call all the community banks in your area, present the deal to them, and see if they're interested. You may even seek out younger lenders at an institution that are looking to build their portfolios because they may be more willing to work on smaller deals. I would also consider looking for the smaller community banks in your area because they are more likely to consider smaller deals. You can find out the size of a bank by searching for their Uniform Bank Performance Report which is filed each quarter. This report shows a banks asset and liability size as well as their financial performance. Look for banks with lower loan to deposit ratios. These institutions have money to lend and may be more willing to consider new relationships and smaller deals. I work as a commercial lender at a medium sized community bank of approximately $500 million in assets in Lubbock, TX. Let me know if I can help out in any other way.