All Forum Posts by: Mark Sewell

Yes Eddie Speed is a pretty big name. I might have to just pony up for that noteschool one of these days.

Yes this is going to be my plan - keep the house I live in and make it a rental, and get another house to move into. Maybe one that is cosmetically challenged, needs some updating but will still pass inspection for the VA loan process....

Yes, I have heard of the guy in Austin that might be referring to.  I am sure there are plenty more.  Recently started listening to Keith Baker's podcast, a local Houston guy, and he doesn't seem to try to sell anything or monetize it at all.  

I am also interested in learning more about this. I know the big names in the paid training space but I'd like learn what I can by just rubbing shoulders with others - at least to start.

Do you need a mentor or do you just need to start running in the right herd? Maybe find a couple folks that have one or two rentals and just start hanging out with them - go to meet ups, you'll find them.

Originally posted by @Bruce Lynn:

I like the B/C cities around the DFW metroplex.  Buy in the path of progress.

Taxes are high, but compared to the rent in CA, I think things balance out.

Typically rent is better here vs purchase price in CA and West Coast, so easier and less capital to get started.

So I like to tell investors...draw a big circle around DFW...and look at the cities on the outside of the circle....places like Burleson and Crowley on the south side. of Ft. Worth.  Places like Saginaw and Eagle Mountain area on the north side of Fort Worth.  Then continue around to places like Denton, Aubrey, Cross Roads, Prosper, Celina, Melissa, Anna, Wylie.

I think this is the right answer.  In Houston, I think the counterparts might be Waller, Hockley, Sealy, Hempstead, Anderson, and maybe even Navasota (this being closer to College Station but still).  Also that 59 corridor on the SW side and the NE side is going strong.  

I would even look at smaller towns that aren't immediately on the edge of the metro area, but have good jobs.  Towns like Beaumont, Baytown, where they have dozens of massive industrial plants with steady jobs.  Other cities I might look in are Corpus, Lubbock, Seguin, San Marcos, Lufkin, Huntsville.... towns like that.  It seems also like Aggieland is growing/expanding all the time and I suspect maybe it isn't just a function of having the big college there.    

Appreciation in Harris County has been averaging about 6% a year since 2012.  Wish I could find the source on that data, but I've heard it more than once.

Demand is insane, and looking on the MLS isn't going to get you a deal right away - with some rare exceptions, of course. You'll need to make a HELLUVA lot of offers, and be very consistent / persistent with keeping up your search. A cursory glance at Redfin twice a week isn't going to get you there.

For the OP - Dallas!  The droids you are looking for are up in Dallas!  (... just kidding... )

@Adam D Rinehart I hear you - either somebody really thinks I have an 'ugly house' or they think I am in some form of distress, because I am getting all the same mail.  Or maybe I just have crossed a threshold in terms of having equity in the property.  In any case I am not suffering from a lack of direct mail ad copy templates to use.

I agree that NW is where it is going.

You could even say that data would support Adam's opinion.  These are cash buyers by zip code (taken from ListSource).  

It was a full year of data, I think but this file is a few months old. 

Ok this probably correlates better to areas where people want to own rental property in Houston, but you could also stretch this interpretation that these are areas where people want to live - or at least that is the opinion of the majority of cash buyers.

There is a guy here in Houston that is well known - look up @Michael Plaks

I think he is here a contributor here on BP from time to time.