All Forum Posts by: John Barr

@Felipe Lopez  

You are off to a great start! Having that kind of cash reserves and a great W2 income puts you far ahead of the vast majority of people that are wanting to get into this business. One thing I will tell you that most people don't do right is the quit their job WAY to early when their goal is to buy and hold. Having that W2 income is essential when needing to get good 30-year loans.

San Antonio is a great market for cash flow which is what you are needing to target to reach your goal. San Antonio has a very stable market when it comes to appreciation in both cash flow and equity appreciation. Having a timeline of 10 years is very doable. 

I am often asked when is a good time to buy real estate and I will always reply. "Anytime is a great time as long as the deal makes sense today"

For example. Right now South Central Texas (Austin and San Antonio) are said to be the most overvalued residential market in the US according to Forbes. So let's say that you buy two to three properties right now (which is possible given your reserves) and we have a price correction and values drop 10% and you are underwater for what you have put in. I will say two things to that.

1. BUY CORRECTLY! If you are targetting cash flow and buy it where it makes sense today the equity play will pay out in the long run as markets appreciate an average 4% a year over the long term. So what do I mean by buying correctly? Make sure that you have a decent amount of cash flow coming in over your loan value. Most people that I know that have been very successful in this business want at minimum $300 a month over their loan payment. This will make your investment a self-sustaining one. Having good cash flow is an essential to making your investment career a long one.

2. When prices of real estate are sinking rental rates are typically rising. Think about it. If the news is saying that real estate prices are falling across the country do you think your average buyer is going to want to buy a home? Rents are countercyclical meaning the often go up instead of down in hard economies. This is basic supply and demand. If people want to rent and not own because of falling prices that means there are more renters in a market. The only time this doesn't work is when people are leaving an area. That is not the case in San Antonio and much of the southern region of the US. 

There is so much that goes into buying property. You want the right areas, getting the right tenants, managing the real estate, managing the tenants, buying in the right price ranges, cash out refi's, 1031 exchanges, and the list goes on. There is to much to type in one post. If you would like more information please get ahold of me. More than willing to talk more.

I put out my own market reports for SA every month and also have a breakdown of the entire SA area broken down by zip code that gives my opinion of where each area is best for which strategies. I am more than willing to send out both to anyone.

@John Jacobus

I can personally say that Brad with RentWerx has been fantastic for me. While I have not used him on MF his team has done well for me in the SF realm.

@Scott MacDonald Welcome to the San Antonio Market! Its a great place for cash flow and depending on your investment strategy there is a very wide range of types of investments.

I have been working on the investment side of real estate for several years now and know the city very well when it comes to buy and holds.

I own a few myself and have and have wholesaled and worked with a ton of buy and hold investors.

You need to be careful of what you are really buy in SA though as what you are experiencing in Austin is happening here as well but mainly on in low-end properties. Not to say anything is wrong with those properties but I am seeing more and more properties that people from Austin are buying "betting" on the future and not taking into consideration what it is today. We have significantly cheaper real estate in a lot of areas here so don't get caught in a bad buy just because of the prices.

If you like I have an email that I can send to you that breaks down pretty much the entire city by zip code of the different type of investments you can find (will send to anyone).

I also do a market report every month that I present at several different events that I could send you as well (will send to anyone). 

Just shoot me a PM and lets connect!

@Dean Suzuki I just replied to @Rodney Getsy on a separate thread.

I have been in SA for several years now and while I have never worked with ATW I can say I have never heard anything good about them.

I have worked with several of the buyers of those homes that you would hold the note on because they were being foreclosed on by ATW. The terms of the loans for the condition of the homes were pretty sub par even for owner finance properties.

Seemed it was very easy for just any buyer to be placed into one of the homes because the down payments were very low, the interest rate was way up there, and the value of the note was about 115% of value

@Rodney Getsy I have some references for you as well if you want to shoot me a PM.

As far as ATW I have never personally worked with them but I will say I haven't heard anything good about them in the years that I have been doing this.

I have worked with a couple of the sellers trying to sell a house that they bought from them on owner finance terms. being the that the seller was being foreclosed on by them. The loan terms that they had for the condition of the houses were pretty subpar even by owner finance terms.

@David Siegel They have all said it. I am local and use Brad Larsen with RentWerx personally on several properties. One of them just happens to be located in Converse as well.

@Mark Russell

The system and process of flipping houses are no guarded secrets by any means. I will tell you thought that everyone has their own style to flipping a house so you will need to find what works for you.

Consistency and patience are the number one skills required for this business. There are a lot of bumps in the road that you will encounter but if you push through it is possible.

Before you really get started you really need to determine what your over all goal is. Are you looking for a full-time new career? Or just looking to flip a few for some side cash and acquire a few rentals along the way? If you're looking for rentals do you have the cash now to purchase and refinance the homes?

As someone that works on the investing side full time doing some renovations, wholesaling, listings, rentals, I will tell you that there is way more to this industry than just flipping houses. Especially in today's competitive market where new people are entering and leaving all of the time.

I would agree with @David Michael that getting your real estate license is a good idea. There are some people out there that will tell you not to get it because of some reason or another but I will tell you that it has not stopped me in any situation yet. It has actually helped me out in many different aspects of my career so far. Having your license will open up the ability to list your properties and list other people homes as well, as you will for sure come across listings while looking for properties.

The way I learned was doing just what @David Michael said. I partnered with a ton of people before I really flipped my own property. I will tell you that partnering with people is a huge benefit in this industry when starting out. I have been in this for three years and I have had a partner in some form or fashion on 80% of the deals I have done. I did a lot of wholesaling to start to understand what an investment was to people and followed the deals through to see what mistakes were made and how much money was made. I have seen a lot of people be too eager to do a deal and just jump into one and have such a bad experience they leave the industry.

There is a lot to learn so network, be persistent, and be patient. build a network you can leverage.

We hold a meet up in SA September through May called craft brews and real estate. Feel free to shoot me a message and I can get you the info for when we start up next month.

Kerry Christensen I have a referral for all three! Shoot me a PM and I can have you connect with the people I have on my team. I like to find the people that take the time to actually explain and educate why they are doing the things that they do. I just feel that way you are better prepared for situations in the future.

@Sean Phillip I have been apart of StepStone for over two years now and as far as an investment brokerage I have not come across one that provides the same community and freedom they provide.

There are no monthly fee's that you have to pay to the brokerage. No mandatory office hours, no sales goals you have to hit, not really much of anything. If you wanted to hang your license with them just to have MLS access and to list your own properties that is fine with them.

Beyond just the flat fee structure for your own deals, they have an awesome community with over 150 agents across the state of Texas that are all investor/agents that all specialize in their own areas. There are agents that only focus on owner finance, to rentals, to wholesaling, and some that do traditional listing because of the life cap they offer. You have the ability to leverage and partner with any of them.

Monthly masterminds are held in each city and quarterly they hold a weekend educational retreat in one of the major metros across the state with multiple classes on different topics to assist in your investing career.

If you would like more information feel free to PM.

@Keith Kaufman You have the right idea for rental properties. the NE and NW, in my opinion, provide the best opportunities for cash flow and appreciation. 

I like the NW because we have a booming business district that is taking off along the 151 and I-10 corridors. The expansion of the infrastructure system is allowing people to commute much easier to get to those corridors. I will say that I have seen such a massive spike in the prices of homes over that way that it in such a short period of time rents have not been able to keep pace to provide great returns.

The vast majority of all of the properties that I have been working on lately have been over in the NE along the 35 corridors. I like this area because of its relation to all of the expansion between Austin and SA. While I have been seeing increases in prices I have also been seeing increases in rents because of the low inventory of good housing. You also have Randolf and Fort Sam Houston in that area so you have a very strong rental base. I am just finding properties with much better returns right now on that side of town versus the NW and W side of town.

If you have other questions about SA feel free to reach out.