All Forum Posts by: Joseph Cacciapaglia

I use https://www.fredflorescpa.com/. He is experienced with tax issues related to real estate investment and development, and also reasonably priced.

@Laura Henderson San Antonio is rated A+ by Aridna. We have a lot of larger STRs here that do very well. There are also a lot of fun things like Sea World, Six Flags, Morgan's Wonderland, tons of Parks, the River Walk, Natural Bridge Caverns, and more. I'm personally investing in short term rentals here in town, and a lot of my clients do as well. The city has a STR ordinance that is pretty clear cut and easy to navigate.

Yes, some are below $150K, but certainly less than there used to be. When I say rent ready, I just mean they're not a significant rehab. There may be small cosmetic items to attend to. Really anything less than about $5K in repairs I would throw into that "rent ready" bucket, as far as pricing goes. In general, you're not getting much value out of a slightly higher rehab budget like $5-10K, because there isn't a big discount to be had for paint and carpet type fixes anymore. I find this to be especially true at the low end of the price spectrum. Feel free to send me the addresses, and I'd be happy to share my thoughts on the specific properties.

@Sarp Ka probably. (All my comments below are for rent ready properties)

First, most of the online rent estimates are pretty far off here in San Antonio. I'm not really sure why, I see it pretty regularly with most of the more popular sites. You need actual rental comps from the same neighborhood as the home to be sure about a rental rate. 

Second, what you don't get from most of those sites is vacancy/turnover data. Most of the areas of town with strong rent to price ratios are also places where it's relatively more difficult to attract tenants and also where turnovers are more common. When you pull comps, be sure to check the DOM, because that's a good proxy for your vacancy rate. Rent ready homes in most of the areas that my clients actually want to invest here in town have rent to price ratios of about 0.7%. They're certainly lower cash flow in year one, but should provide better total returns in the long run.

Third, any home that is sitting on the market more than a few days probably has one or more major problems. Decent homes are selling extremely quickly today, and many are selling for more than the asking price.

I love what you're trying to do with these posts. I've seen a couple from you now. However, I think they really make it obvious how useless zip code level data can be sometimes. When you have a zip code that picks up such different neighborhoods like these, you end up with numbers that don't make a ton of sense. When you see median sale price of $200K and rental rate of $997 it makes it look like you can't buy rentals in this area. I'm sure you realize that's not the case. 

I would love to see similar posts, but focused on subdivision/neighborhood level info. That's usually what I'm sharing with clients here in San Antonio, because the zip code data will usually lead them astray. I'm guessing that you also need to filter out the multifamily from your rental numbers. I would be surprised if that's the average rental rate for single family homes. Of course, I rarely look at zip code level data, so I could be completely wrong about that.

Send me a PM, and I should have an option or two. If you let me know if it is a higher end renovation or a rental type finish, that will be helpful.

My wife and I have much different levels of risk tolerance. Early on it hindered my investment decisions considerably. We bought several properties, but it was a major emotional discussion every single time. Eventually, we decided that I would form a separate LLC, and fund it with $X. I can do anything I want within that LLC without her knowledge or input, but if I need to make any personal guarantees on mortgages or inject additional cash, then we talk about it. She just looks at the LLC as my business, and it doesn't put us in any personal financial risk. This may be a good solution in your situation. The only issue that comes up is that it limits your options for financing. If you're planning to do fix and flips, this probably won't be a problem as long as you're either doing all cash or using hard money. If you're trying to get conventional financing, then it won't really work for you.

@Elin Trinh what part of town is it in? The optimal finish levels vary a ton by location here in San Antonio. In some areas, you'll get the full benefit of a nice renovation while in others you will be better off making sure everything is clean and in working order. It mostly depends on the price point, but I also find that rents in certain neighborhoods are more sensitive to nicer finishes than others.

Why wouldn't the Realtor get paid if you use seller financing? Are you trying to put zero dollars into the deal, so there isn't any actual cash for closing costs? I've seen plenty of seller financing deals where the Realtor got paid at closing. Also, if the property is listed, the seller is probably obligated to pay the commission, even if you try to "go around" the agent. This will very by jurisdiction, and based on their actual contract, but in every state that I've worked, it would be the case.

I can't find the loan officer's contact info at the moment, but this is the bank's main construction loan page: https://www.prosperitybankusa.... Good luck!