All Forum Posts by: Kary Aycock

Hi Chris! I'm a local, direct lender and would be happy to help with your flips. 

We fund Texas real estate investors! Direct lenders. Our easy application process requires no tax returns and we don't even need appraisals for central Austin, our primary market. We've funded client deals in as little as 24 hours when necessary. Our typical turnaround time is 5 business days, although 10 days is appreciated when possible. Discounted rates for experience, good credit, and substantial cash contributions. 550 minimum credit score. Apply today at Little City Investments to fund your Texas real estate investments quickly and painlessly. Reach a real human with any questions you may have from 9-5 M-F at 512-577-6049. 

Hey! I'm a local, direct hard money lender. Let me know if you still need help on this - happy to help.

I've done similar deals in the past and offered a 50/50 or a 60/40 split (money on the 40% side). I offered less % on the super star amazing, no-brainer deals and more on the base-hit type deals. 

You find the deals, she funds the deals, you do the work, you split the profit. If you need her to vet the deals (I see she's the experienced Realtor here), then it might be fair to offer her more. She should at least get the listing commission if you're not an agent (assuming she wants it). 

She may also want a baseline interest rate, say 6% or so, to make sure she gets some kind of return if the deal takes longer than expected. That also keeps you on your toes about timing since you have interest ticking away instead of just taxes, insurance, utilities and maintenance.

If you find a great deal that you don't necessarily need/want to share, it might make more sense for her to make you a loan instead of doing a JV structure. It's more risk for you, but also (probably) more return. If you can keep afloat on the interest payments with your own cash, borrowing could work out better. If you want her experience and the reduced risk, JV is a great solution. Hope that's helpful! Good luck!

Hi Desmond, 

I firmly believe that if you find a truly great deal, the money part should be easy. Finding the deal is the hard part. If you have a deal under contract at 50% of the value, you should not have any trouble financing it with a hard money lender, even if you don't have any cash to contribute. 100% loan to cost financing is possible and available, but finding a deal with enough equity (especially in competitive Austin) is not an easy task!

Most hard money lenders will decline if you have credit below 550 although there are sometimes exceptions even to that. You may want to find a co-borrower with better credit if your credit is that low. Yes, you can absolutely finance 100% of the investment - but only if you have enough equity - aka you must get a really, really good deal on the purchase. Hard money lenders will usually do 70-75% but if you need to finance the closing costs you need an even better deal than that, probably 50-60%. 

Real-deal hard money lenders will not charge you for anything except an appraisal fee unless you close a deal with them. Run away if they try to charge you for training materials or charge an underwriting fee before the loan closes.

Hope that helps! Good luck! 

Agreed! Do not use Zillow for real estate decision making in Texas. Your best bet is to befriend a local Realtor. If you end up needing an annoying number of comps run, you can either pay the agent a BPO fee, or flat monthly like @Andrew Postell recommended. 

Great responses here! I totally agree that you're better off working within the current zoning and limitations -- exceptions are rare for a small developer. Most lots in 78704 are zoned SF3, but there are a few unicorns in Travis Heights that are zoned multi-family and commercial. 

Pay particular attention to trees too. @Alex G. mentions it briefly, but you should know that a Heritage Tree in the wrong place can totally decimate your ability to build or add on. I also agree with his suggestions to try 78745 and that pocket east of 35 between Riverside and Oltorf if you want a little less competition and a little more affordability.

If only 78704 will do, I can relate, I've been a Bouldin resident for over 10 years and I can't imagine leaving. Just don't expect a bargain unless you're really willing to hunt for it. Good luck!

Great link @David Ivy! I forgot about that exemption. It's actually pretty broad and covers a good amount of central Austin. 

Agreed, if you want to build 4 units on an SF3 lot, regardless of size, you'd need to subdivide it. That would take a minimum of 65 feet of street frontage, and up to 70 feet in some cases. Most SF3 lots don't have that much frontage and won't be eligible for subdivision, so you're more than likely limited to a main house and an ADU up to 1,100 sf, or a duplex. You can sell either option separately via a condo regime.