All Forum Posts by: Nancy C.

Carlos F. I'm wondering if you would recommend that a new investor check out different areas because the market is so tight. Or can a newbie find a deal and compete? DFW seems to have everything going for it - including massive competition. Is my time better spent elsewhere?

Thanks for the reminder. I have put both in my forum alerts. Not too many posts about IA though :) But I'll keep looking. My brother lives there and brought me a deal that might be worth doing, but I'm a little hesitant. A) it's with family, B) the house is built 1954 and I am deathly afraid of lead paint. I own a house in Boston (LBP and litigation nightmare) but I only rent to college students (who I assume are not gnawing on the woodwork, although they do all manner of other things I would never think comprehensible or reasonable).

Just wondering if Iowa or North Carolina would be considered landlord or tenants' rights states.

OOPS!! Amazing how changing a - to a + can really change the numbers. I should have looked at it closer, especially when looking at it as simply as Carlos did. Guess I still need a little practice :)

Maybe I'm doing something wrong. I was looking at 130K properties renting for 1200 and using the 50% rule for expenses, plus a mortgage at 4% with 20% down. I followed Ali Boone's "Napkin Math" example and the spreadsheet that I am using gave me the same numbers as in the example. I tweaked it to use the 50% of rent for expenses (maybe that's the problem). I'll check it tonight and see but I would appreciate any feedback if I'm totally off the wall.

You all have given me great insights and things to consider. It's really great that you can get advice from people who know the area so well. I haven't been to Dallas in 15 years so I've been listening to a friend's advice who isn't an investor. I'll keep expanding my view.

Does it ultimately come down to the deal itself? I have been running numbers using properties currently on MLS. Using the asking price, market rents and estimating using the 50% rule I get a cap rate just over 10. Is this an incorrect way of looking at it? How do other investors get a deal and still leverage at 4% over 30 years? I can understand how paying cash you could move really quickly, but how do you move quickly when you're using conventional financing?

I am planning a trip to buy property in the DFW area and was considering Little Elm, Corinth and Denton to buy SF buy-and-hold rentals. While doing the market research I learned that I35 is planning a huge widening project.

I'm wondering if I should consider other areas (either of DFW or compltely different market) because the rental demand would be less in the short term due to increased commute times, or if it's a good area because of potential appreciation in the longer term. We're planning on holding 7-10 years right now.

I'm also evaluating the Denver market, but Dallas draws me because I have a great PM contact, the prices are lower and the returns seem to be higher. Any advice appreciated.

Jilliene H.: No, I haven't considered it because I'm not that familiar with it. I'm also looking for long term wealth building over time. Do investing in loans provide the same long term returns?

Daniel Fisher: Great advice and I'll start listening to the podcasts as I have a couple of months before I have time to go back to the US.

K. Marie Poe: I don't think I'm interested in purchasing a turnkey property, simply because the value has already been wrung out of the deal by all the middlemen.

Aaron Churnick: I'm definitely interested in the long term value play, not the short term cash flow. I want a place that is at least cash neutral, but has the potential for growth over time. That's one of the reasons that I want to invest in the US right now. It seems that it's the perfect storm with lower valued properties that should improve over time.

Jason H.: I'll be sure and look up Chris.

Thanks for all the input. I'm just trying to decide if it is worth it to pay a premium for being completely hands off. Buying here in Australia doesn't make any sense because they are at the top of their real estate cycle and property investing is all about negative gearing (putting money into to property every month in order to qualify for the tax deductions). You also typically have to put 30% down and have a year's worth of credit history plus tax returns.

Does anyone from the Dallas area have any contacts that I can speak to and get their perspective?

I own a three family in Boston that's doing well and was turned over to PM about 8 months ago when I moved to Australia for my husband's job. We'll be returning to the US in a couple of years (most likely) but don't know where.

I want to buy more property in the US and have made a connection here in Melbourne with an investor that owns several SFH's in the Dallas area and knows a great agent and PM.

I'm considering buying SFH's in the Dallas area, partly because I feel like the return seems better there, TX is more landlord friendly than Boston, and I can use this person's contacts rather than start from scratch.

I plan on spending about a month in the DFW area getting to know the market and networking. Is that enough time to find a deal? If I can't find a deal in a month, is it too trusting to try and do from Australia? I've always been very hands on before and it seems crazy to try and do it remotely but I see that other people do, so advice would be greatly appreciated. If I wanted to do renovations, how do I handle that remotely? Or do I just plan on staying a few months, or making more trips back (although that's very expensive)? Or am I getting in over my head and I should just hold off until I make it back to the states?