All Forum Posts by: Kris Wong

@Jeff Brenot The assessor's office has been aggressively increasing valuations to market or near market for the last 2 - 3 years. Last year I had one property whose valuation was increased by 60%, and another that was increased by 50%. You need to assume this will happen to you. You will have no recourse as long as the new valuation is below your purchase price. The county won't even consider your case in an informal hearing if you do not reveal your purchase price.

You say you're looking for ROI greater than 10 - 15%, but what do you mean by that, specifically? Do you mean IRR, which would include all annual net incomes from rents, in addition to the final sale of the property? Or, more likely, are you referring to cash-on-cash return from monthly rents? I'll assume you're referring to the latter, in which case you're going to have to be willing to do some work to find that kind of return. We're in a hot market right now, nationally. Austin and Dallas are 2 of the hottest markets in the country. Here are some ways you might be able to achieve that kind of return:

• Find a property for a fraction of what it's worth (marketing to motivated sellers, nonconventional transactions).
• Find a secondary market that isn't hot, or is maybe even a little depressed (not Austin or Dallas).
• Become a slum lord - but most of us know how that turns out, and you even say you're looking for quality renters.

Finding something that's easy to sell, easy to rent with a quality renter, and has 10 - 15% cash-on-cash returns - you're going to have to be willing to do a lot of marketing/networking to find that. And since you're looking at investing at a distance, that also means you're going to have to be willing to spend money on marketing. That's just my $.02.

I have some free capital and a membership to ABP. I haven't done any private money lending, but I could be open to partnering with you on deals. I would want to be involved from start to finish, to gain experience myself. I'll also want to see your "resume". If this sounds interesting, we can meet and discuss further.

@Alex G. has a good point, though. If you're a wholesaler, you can get the capital you need on a few wholesale/assignment deals.

Key takeaway - there's a lot of hot areas in Austin. You have a lot of options. Mueller, the Domain, South/East Austin near the river, South Congress, South Lamar... many others. You really need to explore each area and decide what offers the vibe you're looking for at the price you can afford.

@Christopher Thompson we are currently building our new primary in this community: http://www.davidweekleyhomes.com/new-homes/tx/austin/austin/east-shore. It is a block or two from the river and surrounded by tons of new development, with a lot more in the pipeline. It's also right across the street from the new Oracle Cloud Campus. I am expecting a lot of appreciation from this property.

@Eddie Lehwald generally speaking it's not possible to move and not sign some kind of paperwork. A lease, a settlement statement, a change of address form, etc... At the end of the day this only matters if you happened to get audited. For the best info, talk to your CPA.

If you are considering the rebuild route - drive around the east side. You'll see a ton, and probably some will be ongoing. You should be able to find a sign, or a person to talk to, or a phone number, something. Start reaching out to people who could give you any information on how to start down that path. Find a trail back to the investor and offer to buy them lunch or do some odd jobs in exchange for info/learning.

If you lived in the house for at least 2 of the last 5 years, do not 1031 exchange. If it wasn't quite 2 years, then it's something to consider. You should be able to substantiate it if it's been more than 2 years (with, say, settlement statements or something similar). I agree with everything Jacob said.

I recommend you attend the Big Live Event, put on by Phil and Shenoah Grove. It's free with a paid membership to the RENC/REIA. You can also do the VIP experience, which I have done. For me it was well worth the additional expense, but I have money. It's 30 hours of classroom style instruction over 3 days. There you'll learn what you need to be doing and why. Then you will just need to fill in the details on how.

Their program is centered around marketing directly to sellers, and non-conventional transactions.

I did not intend to offend anyone or start any arguments (I apologize if I did), just offered my perspective, which I stand by.

Also, Killeen is an hour outside of Austin city center, and is going to pale in comparison to Austin in terms of appreciation. Killeen may work for cash flow, but not for long term wealth building.