All Forum Posts by: Ben H.

Hello All

I could some sound opinions on the decision I need to make. Over the past 3 years my families goal has migrated from rental property growth to simplify our lifestyles and deleveraging. At its peak I had 4 rentals and am down to 1. I am looking to get out of the landlord business and take a break from real estate to spend more time with the kids. I have long term tenants there and they don’t want to move. I have gone down the path of them buying it but the short story is the Wife wants to live there forever but the husband doesn’t want to pay market value and is happy to keep renting long term to keep his wife happy. Btw, they have 5 kids, most are teenagers. The house is a more expensive house in the low $400s which was the most expensive rental I owned. By selling the property, I would be able to pay off my house and be completely debt free which is the goal. They have pretty much told me i can raise their rent as long as they don’t have to move. Now I am stuck with what to do. If I tell them they have to move, then I am stuck paying the mortgage while I get the house ready with incidentals and take the time to sell it. My thought was to see if they would sign a 2 year lease and put it up on the market for investors only. Anyone that buys it would have immediate long term good renters and cash flow $300 per month while paying down about $450 in principal. The other option is I ask them to move and go through the hassle of selling it conventionally. Thoughts?

Similar story here.  I gave a property in Frisco I am looking to sell but need to put some money in it.   With that and possibly having to lower my price, I am at a crossroad.  I am also looking at alternatives other than renting like Airbnb. I have a buddy in the colony with a 1700 sq ft house that is renting it out 80% to 90% each month. Instead of making $1700 a month in rent he making about $3k. 

Hello All I am in Dallas suburb area in Collin County. I am experiencing an issue where my properties values are increasing much faster than the market rent can keep up with. The rise in valuations has increased my taxes and insurance to the point where I will be cash neutral on one property and cash negative on another. Developers are starting to build mass amounts of apartments in the area which has increased the number of rentals. I know it is a good problem to have but am interested in hearing strategies around what folks have done in this situation. Do I cash out and start over somewhere else. Thanks Ben

I had a feeling. Thanks for the confirmation.

Hello All. Does anyone know if you can do a 1031 exchange and instead of taking the funds to put down on a new property, can you use it to pay down an existing property.

The answer is yes here in Frisco for anything over $350k. Homes in my neighborhood are sitting. Builders now have inventory sitting. Folks who bought within the past 2 years and looking to sell are putting their houses up for rent because they are not getting the price to break even. Not saying it is dire by any means but inventory is building for both homes for purchase and rent. The vast majority of the corporations are already here. We are waiting to see if Amazon calls Texas home to keep the momentum going.

Hello Robert From what I am seeing

Hello Dev. The good news is that with your requirement of being within 1.5 hours of DFW airport, you could technically live in Oklahoma. :) There are always pockets that differ from this logic but typically, the further north you go from DFW, or the closer you get to Ft Worth, the better deal you will find. I currently live in Frisco but it is becoming congested and the existing homes at $400k or above are starting to sit. You at correct in that it would be a challenge to find a home over 3,000 sq ft for $350k or below. One place I would recommend looking is in Celina which is about 15 min north of Frisco and where the sprawl is expanding to. They expect to be close to 100k population by 2024 I believe. Look in the zip code 75009 there is a subdivision called Carter Ranch among one of the areas you can still find the square footage you are looking for. There are a ton of communities here like that in towns like McKinney, Anna, Melissa, etc. Get a realtor that knows the area and you should be good on the primary residence. As far as the investment property is concerned areas closer to Ft Worth seem to be the better deal these days. Good luck!

I went through this exact same thing 2 years ago but on our second child knowing we would likely gave a third. I went back and forth but eventually caved and got my wife a used 2012 Honda Odyssey with 36k for $21k. Best decision ever. My rationale was this. There are similarities as to how I manage my rental properties as I manage my family. I will do preventative maintenance on my properties to ensure the calls I get are around minor repairs versus something major like an AC going down in the middle of August. Especially being all my properties have kids in them. I don't mess with the Texas heat. The result of which has been all my properties have long term happy renters in them. I knew that if I got my wife a reliable car with the utility to accommodate a growing family, I should not be getting years of phone calls and nightly debates about the car being safe enough, breaking down, the stroller not fitting in car, not being able to go on a comfortable road trips, and the list goes on and on. With the low amount of miles she drives this minivan will likely last me 10+ years of blissful silence. Yes it put me on hold for a bit but two years down the road, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. Good luck on your decision.

This is a great post. I have also been looking to invest further north. What kind of holds me back is I see the properties sitting out there a bit longer. Now I don't know that area as well as Frisco or Prosper, but I would be interested to know what the primary employment drivers are in Gunter, Sherman, or Denison.