All Forum Posts by: Kristyn Grimes

I also forgot to add that you should get a consumer-friendly credit monitoring app to take a look at what you can chip away at. Myself and quite a few other Americans use credit karma. I was able to get some small things taken off when I first started that shouldn't have been on there. Educate yourself on statue of limitations and reporting times because you can send demand letters to get some of those things taken off. For example old cell phone bills are frequently illegally re-reported and legally the statute of limitations on them is 2 years. I've had Sprint try and place $1,000 on my credit from a disputed closed account fee from 2006. Again, good luck!

Use the Self app to help you lift your score a great deal. I was in the same situation and it's hard to get the credit card everyone's telling you to lightly spend on with s***** credit. They give you a personal loan without any credit check and they hold on to your money for a year in a CD. You make monthly payments of $35, $45, or $135. Make those monthly payments on time for one year and they'll give you back all of your money plus a little. It's only like $9 to start and it can come automatically off of a debit card or bank account. I was super sketched out at first because I've been screwed over by so-called credit repair companies. I was young and dumb and thought that I could fix my credit faster than I messed it up by handing some Bozo 500 bucks to delete all my mistakes. Do your due diligence and read around the internet to see for yourself. You should know, and the self app will tell you, that your score will go down a little bit when you open the account but but after three on time payments they'll even offer you a $100 secured credit card. By yourself a lunch at Wendy's or a tank of gas every month and pay it off before it's due and that'll really help. Good luck!

Also, your friend needs to keep in mind that if he or she chooses to stay in this contract it could be a few more months to get the permits. Every state is behind with permitting, housing Court dockets, etc. due to Covid.

It's time for your friend to get a real estate attorney. The fact that this is October and the ETA was late August is more than enough time. Is this contract one that the seller made up? I've never seen any promulgated contract that says "timely manner.' Usually everything has a specific date because time is money with things like option periods, etc. 

I could be wrong but this seems like it borders on a specific performance issue. Seriously, it's time to consult an attorney. If nothing else, he can tell your friend what their next options are. Also, not all agent's are created equal...

Good luck!

 Hi Jamal,

Welcome to Houston! We're glad to have you!so there's hidden multi-family gems to be found all over the city but you really have to look because we really don't have neighborhoods of multifamily properties. At least not ones that you'd want to sink any of your money into. I would suggest to you to look in the area of Navigation and Canal boulevards, Montrose area, South Union/Brookhaven/South park neighborhoods. 

Take 288 south, exit 610 east and exit Cullen. Turning right or left at light will blow your mind with the amount of growth. Currently, those neighborhoods are still up and coming. You'll see dilapidated, occupied homes sitting next to new build duplexes. 

Gas up and take a drive! Let us know what you find. :)

Juan,

Christina is the lady I was talking about. ^^^ She would know all there is to know about Galveston.

Also here's the link to the Ike Dike conference held at the end of August. No, I don't think it'll be built in the next 5 years in fact they are saying it'll be about 15 years out. However, the original study has been broken down into manageable parts and taken over by army corps of engineers over the summer. Public commenting will start in October and be over the next 45 days.

https://abc13.com/ike-dike-spi...

Many times local banks, especially in smaller towns, have a vested interest in growing the local community. By helping you invest in and improve the community you share, you both benefit from it. We got a mortgage from an out of town lender on our primary and the customer service was terrible. Then our mortgage was sold to a local bank. It's so much less stress to be able to go down the street and speak directly to my loan officer than wait on hold for hours. They get my business and I recommend others to use them. I hope that helps.

I forgot to add that you should keep an eye on the proposed Ike Dike if you choose to look at Galveston rather than the southern Texas coast. It's gotten some serious traction after Harvey. It'll be a game changer for property owners I think. Plus it looks cool as hell :)

 Hi Juan,

So a few things:

1. Get flood Insurance. Always.

2. We don't get hit with a Rita or Harvey every year. You just have to be prepared for when we do. Coastal cities like CC and Houston/Galveston are still around because it's nothing new to us and we know how to prepare.

3. Take only as much risk as your cash reserves can afford. FEMA is slow as molasses when it comes to picking up the pieces and cutting you a check. You could be nearly a year with an uninhabitable property in worst case scenarios. Perhaps choose a property a few blocks away from the beach or more so your property doesn't take the full force. Storm surge is usually the biggest threat and many existing properties are built on elevated pier and beam to give them a fighting chance.

There's a cool lady on here who's been investing and doing PM on Galveston forever but I can't think of her name. I'll post here again when I find her name. She'd be a gold mine of info on investing near the water.

Best of luck!

That's a great point about him being competition, Tony. Thank you for your insight.