All Forum Posts by: Jimmy Marks

Hi All,

I am a dormant RE investor with a few rental houses in Houston area and trying to get more active and scale up. I have a good W2 income and have some capital to use. I am not after cash flow right now. I have 10-15 years till retirement so want to grow now and will focus on cash flow at that time. The houses I have bought so far were new / newish but now I am opening up to other approaches like flipping and BRRR. It will be great to connect with members who have gone through a similar journey. Looking forward to learn from you all and hopefully contribute some too. Thanks.

Hello, I just recently moved to Houston with my girlfriend with the hopes of getting a new start. Real estate is my passion and would like to get to the point where it is what I do full time. Any advice or tips or knowledge about the houston area market would be greatly appreciated!

Have been reading more online about HMLs and how to best use them for getting into Flipping. Currently I do have two other investment properties in the Northeast and want to continue to acquire more but also want to take advantage of the lower cost of homes down here in the Houston area. Ive noticed it is a city that has alot of neighborhoods that will be growing and so I would like to take advantage of that opportunity.

I am open to anything that anyone is willing to pass on, thank you!

Newbie here and I would love some feedback on what you would do in this scenario. Would you Stay-Sell-Rent?  We are realizing that this home doesn't fit our lifestyle anymore and we want to pay down debt and start saving to buy our first rental property.  We are considering either selling the home or renting and moving into an apartment with much less overhead.  However, we are worried about losing our "investment" and such a low interest rate.

We purchased a Trendmaker home west of Houston in Katy, in 2020 with 10% down at 3.3% interest for $319,000.  The house is 2660 sq ft, 4 bd 3 ba, 2 car garage & pool built in 2006.  Zoned to "sought after" Katy ISD and Seven Lakes High school (one of the top in the state & country, so I am told) in Cinco Ranch.  It would sell or rent very quickly.  

To make a long, expensive story short, we discovered that builder failed to insulate an entire 3rd attic space and didn't seal wall cavities up in the main attic or insulate chases properly (Inspector failed too).  This, coupled with the fact that the HVAC company didn't run a Heat Load when we purchased 2 new units in 2021, has led to extensive, repeated water damage and remediation on 3 separate occasions in different areas of the home.   

To finance the remediation we took out a HELOC to the tune of $70k with a bit of money from insurance (another saga) ... paying $600 month interest only on HELOC.
The house was just appraised at $514,500. 
Realtor said he'd list in $540,000 range.  
After paying off HELOC and closing costs etc we would be left with roughly or so $110,000-$140,000 if we sold it.  
Rental estimate $3200.  Mortgage $2600 -cashflow calculator $350+  (didnt take HELOC payment into consideration) 

Question #1... Should we bother trying to wrestle with Trendmaker or HVAC company, who has since rebranded, for compensation (all of this did lead to significant health issues which is another story entirely as well) 
Question #2... Should we sell it? 
Question #4... Should we rent it?  
Question #5... Should we just stay in it for now? 

Hello all,

I am looking for recommendations for a lender who will fund the acquisition of land and the cost to construct a duplex. This would be my primary residence and would also like to use my VA loan.

Thanks!

Hello,

I had two properties under my name that I transferred to an LLC where I own 20% interest.

This is screwing my DTI when trying to purchase a new home as my homestead because all the debt is in my personal report but only 20% revenue.

Is there something I can do to change this? 

*UPDATE – Guest speaker change

Attention real estate investors in Houston! Don't miss out on our 15th REI meetup event. Each of our get-togethers spotlights a talk from a unique real estate investor or industry professional in the Houston market. There are no sales pitches, only actionable, ethical investing advice.

Last month we were privileged to have James Toler, owner of King James Lending, join us to share options, insights, and tips on hard money lending.

 This month we are thrilled to welcome Billy Cook! Billy is a licensed inspector in Houston and does all of our inspections for the properties we buy. He has been a tremendous resource and we want to bring him in to share some of his insight with the Houston market.

Billy is going to discuss common things to expect with properties in the Houston market, things to look at for with big ticket items like a roof, plumbing, HVAC, etc. He will share stories of things he has seen over the years and when you people should bring in a professional to give a second opinion. If you have any questions, want to share any horror stories, or just come hang out and learn it should be a great meetup to make it to!

This meetup offers the opportunity to learn, network, and grow alongside like-minded individuals. Mark your calendar for Wednesday, May 22nd at 6:30 pm and ensure to join us. We have reserved time for networking at the end of the event, but we welcome you to arrive as early as 6:15 pm to network before the event officially kicks off.

See you there!

I am in the process of trying to enter a REI partnership with two close childhood friends. We have been discussing and collaborating for a few months, but there is obviously a lifetime of information to learn! We are excited and eager to do things right, and we are willing to take reasonable risks.

Some background: First I was a musician (two degrees), and now I'm an actuary (career switch when the pandemic started). I'm what people might describe as a "jack of all trades, master of none" (although at this point, due to my current career, I have a fairly deep understanding of interest theory, loan amortization, assessing risk, and certain other financial topics). I am trying to broaden my knowledge base in as many ways as possible. My financial knowledge is one of the skills I bring to the table in the partnership I mentioned above. My main reason for investing in the premium BP membership was to access the calculators for quicker analyses, but I know how to reproduce the results in Excel fairly easily. What I'm trying to understanding better is creative financing, analyzing the surrounding markets, making connections, and many of the other industry-specific concepts that can really only be learned through real-life experience.

The idea of REI came about between myself and my friends because one of them has access to a large amount of capital that he received from his parents as a gift. He intends to use part of it as a down payment for his primary residence, but he wants to use the rest to build something bigger. We are trying to maintain as much of a realistic perspective on things as possible, and we don't intend to go the "get rich quick" route. Our plan is to start this as a side business (we all have day jobs) and play the long game until we can eventually switch careers entirely.

Books I've read recently:

1) How to Invest in Real Estate, Brandon Turner

2) Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki

3) The Richest Man in Babylon, George Clason

My goal is to eliminate as much ignorance on this topic as possible. I am not afraid of changing my views and learning new ways of doing things. There are thousands and thousands of people with far more experience and wisdom in this industry than I have currently. I am excited to engage with and learn from these people, including those in the BP community!house