All Forum Posts by: Jerel Davis

@Meir Greenblatt it's a rental property that was renovated after the floods and passed my inspections. Its actually MLS but it was priced too high and sat at that price point for two years. That's why my low offers and counters have been accepted.

@Shahriar Khan I really appreciate advice coming from Houstonians. It would be my first deal and actually be a primary residence for the first year. I’ve been renting and need to put my money into a house for equity that has potential to be a rental in the future. It’s 15 minutes from Katy and actually meets 1% rental rates. My price point is below 200k so I’ve been outbid a lot in Houston or haven’t been able to find financing for uninhabitable properties owner occupied. That’s what pushed me to the outskirts.

@Aaron K. You could be absolutely right. That’s why the flood insurance is so important to me. It’s a risk I’m taking just to start out. It was two of the worst floods for Houston and the surrounding area.

@Mike McCarthy I took your advice and reduced the offer by 10%. They gave me a counter offer just below 10% and my agent is rebating me the difference. I still need the real number for flood insurance so I might need to do it again after the elevation certificate comes in.

I’m under contract for a property in Brookshire, Tx and the sellers stated in their sellers disclosure that the home flooded during Harvey. During due diligence, I found out that there were actually two claims: Harvey and Tax Day Floods during their ownership. This deal is make or break on the premium for flood insurance and the insurance company cant find the elevation certificate, but insists there was one. The sellers current coverage is 40,000 building 5,000 deductible with a $1,364 premium (which would probably mean I’d need more coverage and would have a higher premium if new elevation certificate doesn’t help). My loan amount would be $100,000.

How would you negotiate the fact that seller did not give full disclosure on the flood history?

I’m two days away from the end of my option period. I Still need the survey and elevation certificate to get hard numbers.

I had to move from Hawaii because of how expensive it is.. I’m trying to buy enough in the mainland just to afford to go home. :(

This reminds me of when I invested heavily in the energy sector the beginning of last year and watched it tank by the end of the year. I will never invest more than 1/3 of my stock portfolio in one sector EVER AGAIN.

@D'Andre Byers I’m in the same boat and something I learned is to play into her needs first. Also, my wife has zero interest in real estate so I try to keep my real estate talk to a minimum until the offer is ready to go in. Since many contracts don’t get accepted i just give her a small heads up. If it goes under contract I gradually get her involved without getting her hopes up.

@Tyler Oto I know it must be weird, but this is exactly what I’m doing right now. I’m 6 months into it. Sold all of my stuff, married my wife, and we left our families in Hawaii to chase real estate in Texas. I haven’t found a property yet, but I’ve put offers in all over the place around Houston areas. Did you ever make the move? I hope to be able to afford coming back home one day..

@Habbak Burs

You’d have to do an scope of work and estimate the cost for materials + labor. You could have a contractor do one estimate for you and pay them for their time and then build a worksheet around it or research the average cost for these individual things. It’s location specific and from my understanding goes beyond just (insert price) per room or task.