All Forum Posts by: James H.

Originally posted by @Lalit K.:

@James H. I meant cash flow properties in 150K - 200K range in good neighborhood with some appreciation potential as well.

I have a home in Collin County (Plano) which has experienced a 60% increase in property taxes since 2012.

I have other properties in the City of Dallas which have experienced 40%+ increases in property taxes since 2012.

Plan to spend 25-30% of your gross rents for property taxes.


Originally posted by @Caleb Heimsoth:

Nick Van Sandt I lived in DFW last year and my girlfriend is still there so I visit often. The economy in dfw and Texas in general is fantastic and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.

That being said you need to be aware that property taxes in dfw are high and are often reaccessed every year. The often will go up.

Finally the weather is nice but you can get hail. Dfw just got hail yesterday and it can easily ruin your roof which will make it more expensive to own rentals there. Just things to be aware of

Those are "starter homes," which are rarely built anymore.  

One thing you can ask yourself is if you are looking for younger tenants who are salaried employees or a wider age range who are hourly.  You will find more hourly types south of I-30 and more salaried types north of I-30. 

Other than that, picking "hot areas" is a lot like trying to pick stocks.  :-)



Originally posted by @Lalit K.:

Thanks James H. , I would like to go with the price range you suggested. Are there any zip code recommendations for Dallas metroplex Area?

September 29 - Tenant contacts us about accepting DHA voucher.
October 2 - Tenant has looked at property and sent us voucher papers.
October 5 - We accompany tenant to DHA and try to submit papers.  3 hour wait.  One paper is missing, so DHA rejects everything.
October 10 - Papers accepted by DHA.  Another 3 hour wait.
November 6 - No inspection yet. Called DHA to find out what the story was with inspection.  Left voicemail.  Inspector called back that afternoon.
November 8 - Inspection occurred and inspector told us verbally that the home passed.

November 14 and on...  - Tenant informs us that her case worker says that it OK to sign a lease and that DHA will pay starting December 1.  We call case worker and leave a message asking for confirmation.  We write an email to the case worker.  This happens every few days since.  The tenant occasionally gets the case worker on the phone but we never seem to be able to.  The case worker promises the tenant that it is OK to sign a lease and that she will call and/or email us to verify.  At one point, the case worker tells the tenant that she is in the process of writing an email to us.  Nothing has been received from the case worker.

On multiple occasions, we wrote/called the case worker telling her that we would like to sign a lease with the tenant and that we will give her free rent for the rest of November so that she could move in at her leisure over Thanksgiving.

No response whatsoever from DHA.

The tenant called her present landlord and asked his advise.  He told her that he always signs a lease after a home passes inspection and does not wait for DHA to verify anything because DHA usually does not bother.  That sounds very risky from a landlord's point of view...

December 1 is coming up quickly. 

One has to wonder why DHA does not bother to respond.  I just need something by email (or even over the phone) from the case worker that says 1) Tenant is approved.  2) Home is approved. 

It seems like the case worker has probably spent more time deleting voicemails or emails than she would have spent to prepare a simple response.

So, Brooke, what gives? 


Originally posted by @Brooke Etie:

The new leadership team at the Dallas Housing Authority (DHA) appreciates honest feedback and is committed to delivering quality customer service to all our partners, including landlords. We understand the private sector cost of doing business, that’s why we are actively engaged in continually making process improvements designed to streamline processes, delivery of payments and our accessibility.

Our mission is to deliver quality housing services accurately, efficiently and effectively while safeguarding the public trust. To give you some examples of recent changes; intent to rent paperwork is processed upon receipt and vacant units available for rent are inspected by DHA within 2-3 business days.

Your partnership in the mission to provide affordable housing to our community is absolutely critical. We can’t do it without your support. DHA deeply regrets any inconvenience you may have experienced due to slow processing and we encourage you to give DHA another opportunity to earn your business. Contact me if I can be of any assistance. 

Brooke Etie

Vice President, Voucher Programs

Thank you for your feedback!  I am not sure when the new leadership team was put in place, but DHA's responsiveness seemed to really improve about a week ago.  The inspector came out within 2 days of calling for an appointment and our understanding is that the case worker is just finalizing the paperwork this week.  So, things appear to have improved as you state. 

Jim

Originally posted by @Brooke Etie:

The new leadership team at the Dallas Housing Authority (DHA) appreciates honest feedback and is committed to delivering quality customer service to all our partners, including landlords. We understand the private sector cost of doing business, that’s why we are actively engaged in continually making process improvements designed to streamline processes, delivery of payments and our accessibility.

Our mission is to deliver quality housing services accurately, efficiently and effectively while safeguarding the public trust. To give you some examples of recent changes; intent to rent paperwork is processed upon receipt and vacant units available for rent are inspected by DHA within 2-3 business days.

Your partnership in the mission to provide affordable housing to our community is absolutely critical. We can’t do it without your support. DHA deeply regrets any inconvenience you may have experienced due to slow processing and we encourage you to give DHA another opportunity to earn your business. Contact me if I can be of any assistance. 

Brooke Etie

Vice President, Voucher Programs

We are also changing the name on the home for refinancing purposes (LLC to personal names...)



Originally posted by @Steven Loveless:

DHA is pretty bad to do business with - in my limited experience they are probably the worst about responsiveness.

It took them about two weeks to schedule my first inspection with them, then about another five to actually perform the inspection. The issue with mine was that I was a new landlord to them - so they had to process my "landlord info" before they would process the property portion of the RFTA.

Overall it was kind of a pain in the *** - but all S8 programs have some of that. The best route I found was I eventually got the direct email address of somebody in the landlord relations office, and she was the one to run things down for me.

Whatever you do - DO NOT rely on the main DHA call line to give you info, either talk to your tenant's case worker or someone in landlord relations directly.