All Forum Posts by: Joan Brown

Smart move to invest in Lubbock. Denver is a crazy market right now. Let me/us know if you need help with contractors or projects, once you get to that point!

Hi Braden! Congrats on becoming official! I have gotten tons of valuable advice on BP. I think BRRR is a perfect strategy for Lubbock. I also switched from a full-time career to investing full-time. I would love to meet up and chat sometime. Message me.

Joan

Welcome, Kaity!

I recently moved to Lubbock from Portales after working on rehab remotely for 6 months, so I understand the need to have a team in Lubbock. Happy to help however I can! Message me and we can get together or chat!

Joan

I definitely appreciate what Jeremiah has going with his REIA, but I am also interested in a smaller group in Lubbock with more discussion.

I have some properties getting higher rates of return, but they started in rough shape, are in C or D neighborhoods, and are rented by people with credit issues. I talk to all the neighbors during the renovation, do a lot of tenant screening, inspect every month or two, and rent to people I can build a rapport with. If you understand that these are very different than the B properties and have appropriate procedures in place, they can be very good!

Lubbock is a great city! Maybe not  with millions of people, but there are lots of experienced investors and experienced service providers. 

I started searching for a tax person and mentioned it to everyone I met for about two weeks. The lending president at the bank I use gave me the names he saw most often on tax returns for his RE investor borrowers. Wow! That was fabulous. 

I also took advantage of the free consultation the tax folks all offer and talked with a few of them I found through an internet and bigger pockets search. I considered using one of the two firms that are online and all over Bigger Pockets, but they are more costly. Then I decided to go with a local firm. I cross referenced my top pick from my interviews and found he was on the bank lender's list, too.

I can recommend the guy I ended up with (dm me), but I know there are several great firms here. You may be better off with your own search because you really want someone you can work with who uses support technology you are comfortable using and is responsive, willing to meet you at your experience level, etc.

I wanted to spend a while choosing because I don't want to switch again for a long time. My tax situation is very complicated, as it is for most RE investors, and there is a learning curve for the new firm. I don't have time to do that every few years.

I am still judging the firm I chose (maybe my personality flaw), but they are getting high marks because of their questions and responsiveness. From my experiences filing my own taxes through many home ownership, rentals, short term rentals, etc, they are asking all the questions that will get them to the understanding they need to be really helpful.

Good luck with your search!

@Austin Hughes, I think Brent mentioned the other night that a bank in Leveland had a similar deal to what our favorite bank did. I will check on which bank that is.

@Cody Malone, We looked into putting a shipping container on one of our properties in the city of Lubbock and found out they are illegal inside city limits. Not that everyone follows that, but if your plan hinges on using shipping containers, be sure it would be approved by zoning!

Joan

@Bryan Hudspeth, you might consider setting up LLC's if you already have significant assets that you want to keep separate from your investing. Make sure you carry insurance that has $1 million or $2 million general liability on the properties (which isn't terribly expensive).

Consider using a Registered Agent in TX because that ends up making an internet search unable to connect your name to your properties, even after finding the LLC that owns your property. Meaning that a quick internet search will not help someone figure out that you are worth suing.

I recently switched to using the TX Series LLC. One fee to set up, then adding an individual series requires two Assumed Name certificates one filed at the state and one filed at the county. I did those myself and was able to do several in about 1 hour start to finish. I did discover that expedited service with the state is definitely worth the fee. Expedited took 3 days; I am still waiting on regular service a week later.

@Garrott Nalle, I am a fellow investor in Lubbock, trying NOT to overpay for properties! I like the market here and have several rental properties, but am a relative newbie. 

Best of luck to you, and you are in the right place! I find myself coming back to podcasts to learn and re-motivate often. When I research issues I run into, my best results are often in forum posts or threads on BP.

I have some experience with short term rentals in Ruidoso.

I would love to talk more with you if you want to meet for coffee.