All Forum Posts by: Jesal Shah

Thank you @Mike D'Arrigo for your input. 

Thank you @Sam Alomari , @Tony Castronovo@Tony Castronovo

The properties I am looking at are mostly rent ready but I still budget $1000-$2000 for improvements as part of the cash needed to close the deal. 

If you guys don't mind - can you please share some of the reliable wholesalers you deal with? 

Thank you. 

@Tony Castronovo

@Tony Castronovo

Thank you all for your responses.  Very much appreciated.

Couple of good points made in above discussion:

- There are areas with tax rates around 2% which helps. I will certainly look into it. 

- Look for such properties at a lower price however it is difficult to find them through MLS.

I haven't looked into wholesalers yet. Is it beneficial to buy properties through wholesalers? 

Thanks @Kevin Coggins

I am mainly looking at north of I-10 Katy and Cypress area. 

@Kevin Coggins, Thank you for your reply.

You are absolutely right about the property taxes. If I understand your comment correctly then you mean to say that I should be looking for min. rent around 1.5% of ARV? In this case, it would be $1800 which seems unrealistic. I typically check rental listing in the same neighborhood and use mid point or lower end value for similar houses in my analysis.

Hello Everyone,

I am new to BP and looking to make my 1st investment in Houston area. I evaluated few properties but numbers don't work out. Not sure if I am doing something wrong or it's just hard to find good deals in Houston market. I have posted an example of typical deals that I have been evaluating. I will really appreciate any feedback you can provide. Please help.

Thanks in advance.

1) Purchase price: $120,000

2) Expected Rent: $1100/mo 

3) Property Taxes: $300/mo 

4) Mortgage with 25% down @ 5% interest: $483.14/mo

5) Other expenses (insurance, HOA, Vacancy, CapEx, Maint etc.): $100+$25+$100+$100+$50 = $ 375

6) Total expenses with mortgage, tax, others = $1158 (vs. total income of $1100).

7) Above yields negative cash flow. All the properties I evaluated (northwest houston) so far result in -ve cash flow.  :-(

I thought above numbers are very realistic (actually i am thinking my expenses are underestimated). I am sure people are finding deals in Houston area and making investments. So what am I doing wrong? Is my evaluation method flawed? Should I be looking elsewhere?