All Forum Posts by: Krishna Chava

Agree with most other posters, this is a good deal as long as it's in a safe neighborhood and you don't need lot of repairs. I love units that rent around 1250. These attract solid working class people and, at this price, they don't have pay an arm and leg to afford a roof over the head.  

Agree, fire damage can be repaired if no structural damage. I had 5 out of 6 AC units stolen from 6 new construction duplexes I was buying. This was few days before closing and after the appraisal. I closed anyway and builder put in new units. As a bonus, this built a trust between me and the builder and we have good partnership going.

I have put tile on all my recent renovations. Zero issues later. Vinyl plank works but sub-floor has be level. Get a good installer. One of my mistakes earlier in the business was using a handyman to do floors.

Congrats @Joseph Cornwell. I like the fact that you took you first plunge with a MLS deal that has been on market for 6 months. Most people would assume there is something seriously wrong with it. It takes conviction to believe in your judgment to buy such a first deal and I am glad your conviction paid off nicely.

My 2c on the topic. I am not an experienced syndicator but did one small syndication with 13 investors 2 years ago. Bought 9 condos for total of 360k, in a safe neighborhood near downtown Dallas(south oakcliff). Prices have doubled since and rental income increased more than expected. All of the investors are very happy and would like to invest in next syndication (if I ever do one). 

My lesson here is that, looking back, there is no other way I could have earned the trust of these investors and also had required self confidence in me to do a large syndication without this small one. 

I have bought several properties over last 2 years and I have paused now mainly because of steep climb in interest rates. Speed at which interest rates have climbed is more of concern that interest rates themselves. Here are my strategies to make my properties hardier for a recession hit:

1) Using cash flow, pay of all short term debt, from friends and family and some credit cards. 

2) Make sure all the deposits collected from tenants is in a separate accounts and is not touched by daily operations. This might be requirement in same states, not Texas.

3) Use the cash flow to fix problems that have a longer term ROI like replacing AC on last legs or a fence that needs to be replaced in next 2 years anyway. Make your current properties better such that you will have less repairs later or you can defer repairs when times are not good.

4) Self manage your properties if you can. Management expense is a huge cushion when things go south. Not only can you save 10% of gross rent but you have better control over repair decisions and you can defer non emergency ones based on your financial situation. There are many technologies that make self managing very different than 10 years ago.

Krishna.

I have bought several properties over last 2 years and I have paused now mainly because of steep climb in interest rates. Speed at which interest rates have climbed is more of concern that interest rates themselves. Here are my strategies to make my properties hardier for a recession hit:

1) Using cash flow, pay of all short term debt, from friends and family and some credit cards. 

2) Make sure all the deposits collected from tenants is in a separate accounts and is not touched by daily operations. This might be requirement in same states, not Texas.

3) Use the cash flow to fix problems that have a longer term ROI like replacing AC on last legs or a fence that needs to be replaced in next 2 years anyway. Make your current properties better such that you will have less repairs later or you can defer repairs when times are not good.

4) Self manage your properties if you can. Management expense is a huge cushion when things go south. Not only can you save 10% of gross rent but you have better control over repair decisions and you can defer non emergency ones based on your financial situation. There are many technologies that make self managing very different than 10 years ago.

Krishna.

Thanks for the comment, Henri. I agree with you that property manager won't mind a non obstrusive party. Issue is when other tenants start complaining about noise and distrubance. In that case, you can enforce lease terms objectively without getting into he said, you said blame game.

I have a more detailed presentation of the technology.PM me if you are interested in looking at it.

Krishna.

second to cozy though I moved everything to buildium after 20+ units.

I advice NOT to buy SFH that rents close to 2000 for first investment property. You have fewer eligible renters at that price compared to sub 1200 rental. if you look hard, you should be able to find duplexes for 200k close to Arlington in cities like Forest Hill, Burleson and South Fortworth. You will make 1000 on each side which is still 2000, but you have clear upside to go up to 1400 in 2-3 years. It's unlikely you can rent your SFH for 2800 2-3 years from now.