All Forum Posts by: Laci J.

Lee --- I looked at your profile pic. And yes, I recognize you! Great to "see" you on here. I hope to chat with you again in December in Las Cruces.

Hi Erik. Welcome to El Paso. I am here also. We are investors, currently own 5 homes in 3 states. El Paso is a tricky market. Take your time and buy smart!

Hi Lee! We've probably met already, as I also attend the REI meetings in Las Cruces. Sorry, I am horrible with names! I did not go last night, for a few reasons. But I plan to be back in December.

Have a great day!

Hi Justin,

We are investors. We own 5 homes, in 3 states. 4 are SFH, 1 is MF. 2 are in El Paso. Also military. Also stationed at Fort Bliss. Also live off post. Also Field Grade officer. Also, live rent-free.

All that being said, I get what you are saying. It is not nearly as easy to own a rental here in EP that has decent cash flow as it is in some other states. Mostly due to the high property taxes, as you mentioned. But also due in part to the rental rates being held low thanks to this crazy market. 

Thanks to the timing of the purchase, we just refi'd our rental on the East side a few months ago to finally be making positive cash flow on it. It was purchased at the height of the market (in 2006-7) for more than it's worth today and at a high interest rate, with a 15 year loan. And thanks to the ever-increasing taxes, our cash flow went down a little more every year. I finally gave in to a refi, lowering the interest rate by 1.5% but also extending the loan a bit. That changed our cash flow from a loss of $231/month, to a gain of $246/month. I wouldn't recommend this to everyone, but it worked for us. We plan to keep this house for 10+ years, so extending wasn't a huge hit. But the positive cash flow helped us to purchase another home.

As for a purchase, that you are discussing, I can't help there. For us - it's not beneficial to purchase any more homes here due to exactly what you are speaking of. There isn't enough money in it to make me want to move forward. In fact, we are planning to put our primary home on the market when we leave EP in a few years. And not purchase any other homes in a market with this high of taxes. I have other homes with a tax rate of around 1.5%. That leaves more money in our bank account.

I need to jet right now but I'm happy to discuss further.

Have a great day!

I am trying to make this one Heather. Thanks for the reminder!

We used A&A Professional Construction for a rental reno in Jan. I thought most of their prices were decent and the work was good and completed on time. That being said, the original quote had some pricing that was too high for my liking so I asked them to do better and they did. Even then there were a couple of things we dropped as they simply weren't in the budget for a rental. If you would like a cell phone to a supervisor, send me a message.

Curious how this ended? Update?

Curious - these HELOC and PLOC loans you talk about, are they fixed or variable interest rates?

Knowing what I know now ... and if I were you ... I would buy a multi-family. Live in one side and rent out the other(s). Basically you can live rent/mortgage free (plus some) and save tons of money every month to go towards your next investment in a year or so. 

If you are planning to buy in El Paso (I'm assuming so) make sure you pay close attention to the taxes. They are super high here in comparison to lots of other places. 

Just my two cents.

Hi Sharika - we're military and RE investors here in EP as well. I'd love to chat more. Bath time for the kids right now. Feel free to connect.

What unit? We're here in EP as well. 11th BDE. We own 4 homes - two here in EP. I am seriously considering putting an offer in on a multi-family this week. I'd love to hear more about how you're financing so many homes, and more. We're finding it a bit more difficult on #5, which is also our first investment only property and not a primary residence. And Hawai'i? Wow - big money there. Feel free to add me. I'd love to chat. We are on the West side of EP.