All Forum Posts by: Lucia Rushton

I am a first time real estate investor trying to buy my first property to rent out. I am mainly looking for a single family home in the DFW area. I have been talking to a real estate agent and he has been sending me a lot of properties to look at but the numbers just don't make any sense. Most of the single family homes are around $290k-$300k and the estimate rent for the area is around $2,100-$2,300. After calculating all of the properties, the average cap rate is around 5% and the COC ROI is always negative (I am putting down 25% for a DSCR loan). Most of these properties are going to take me 6-7 years to actually have positive cash flow. Is that normal? Or should I take my time and wait for my real estate agent to find me a better deal?

I understand that for single family homes, it takes a while to get positive cash flow, but is 6-7 years way too long?

 Lucia, For now my thought is to stay in Texas. Start with Austin, San Antonio and then to Dallas perhaps.

I'm from the DFW area in TX. I have a few rentals and I'm looking to invest in multi-family/rehab properties. Looking to meet likeminded people and continue to learn and grow.

Please feel free to reach out, I'm looking for all contacts. Investors, contractors, tax specialist, lenders, etc. 

Thank you and looking forward to working with you!!

Hi BP Community!

I am currently looking to buy my first property in the DFW area (Plano,Frisco,Allen) and am looking to connect/hear from others. 

It does not seem house hacking is possible in this market without renting out spare bed rooms (which is not an option). Am I completely wrong on this? 

While I am wanting to buy a property in this area within the next 6 months rather than rent, I’m lost on if I should HH or look for a distressed single family home I can rehab while I live in it to force appreciation this way?

Would love to hear everyone’s honest thoughts!

Hi everyone

I am completely new to the field and very excited to get started. I am still looking for my first investment. I mainly concentrate in the Dallas Texas area.

I found a beautiful property with a lot of potential in a well-kept and beautiful street. The numbers look really good.

Across the road, right in front of the property, is the back of a Baptist church.

In the front of the church there is a large parking lot, but this, as mentioned, is on the parallel street.

How much does it matter? I would love to hear any advice and insight.

Thank you

 That is the beauty of real estate. Every person and situation can be unique. I would consider paying a 5 cap for a property with lots of upside and value add. Example I am looking at a triplex at $300k but it only had rents of about $1850. It ends up being a 5 cap.  However I know what I can renovate each of the units for and all three units are paying approx half of market after being fixed up. After fixing them up I can get about $1200-1,300/month each thus a new gross rent amount of around $3,750. After adding in renovation costs I get around a 10 cap. Also if you are unlike most on here and can pay cash it can still look like a great opportunity.