All Forum Posts by: Roy Oliphant

@Kevin O'Brien

It's always the right time to buy if the deal is right and the wrong time to buy if not.  Over-heated markets just mean that deals take more work to find.  But real deals always take some effort.  Otherwise everyone would be investing in real estate. 

Oh wait...  my last Uber driver gave me a card saying he  'Buys houses for cash'. (Joking!)

Goals -> Strategy -> Plan -> Action -> Goals  

Each step takes work but advancement only happens from effort.

McKinney is mostly a pretty good area.  Some exceptions in the 'historic' (read older) areas.  Sounds like it he may have over paid either for the property, the repairs or both and now is trying to get more than it is worth.  Might think about selling it owner-financed and then selling the note to get as much working capital as possible.  Or rent the two spaces and wait for appreciation to bail him out. 

Hard to analyze without more property details thus hard to be specific in any recommendations.

@Ben H.

Great Strategy !!  Sounds like a Win-Win for you and them.

@Neil P.

You are definitely going to need professional help on this one.  You certainly want to give them legal notice of rent increase and non-renewal.  However, you may have already missed the date to make that immediately effective.

Start with a finding a good lawyer to help you through this event.  And then find a good Property Manager to help you in the future. 

And remember when it comes to anything related to real estate - Verbal is as good as nothing.

 DFW is a seller's market right now, Toyota, NFM, StateFarms, lots of multi-thousand job relocation and expansions in the last two years.  Rent prices are still lagging a little behind the increase in sales prices.  You say you can self manage 2 hours from where you live; that opens a lot of North Texas outside of the immediate metro area.  However, I would caution you on actually trying to self-manage that far away.  A 4 hour trip every time you have to fix something or even for a regular drive-by is going to get old very soon.

@Vivek S. said. 

Lancaster is pretty good place to own rental properties as it is a good working class area.  There is a lot of focus on the communities south of Dallas and significant money being spent on roads and other infra-structure that will allow future growth in that direction. 4-5 years from now it will be significantly closer (time-wise) to the CBD that anything price comparable to the north. 

@Patrick Walthall

Welcome!

And you are in a great location for house hacking!

Goals -> Strategy -> Plan -> Action -> Goals

Your goal is stated above.  Seems Cash Flow investing is your strategy. Have you calculated how much cash flow you will need to meet your goal?  That will certainly help you Plan how many properties you need to acquire.

Good luck and good hunting!

@Marzella Zielke

If this is in the area I suspect it is, you will probably find your only option long-tem is scrape and build.  The land values in these neighborhoods (like one that is just northeast of Love Field Airport) are rising so fast that rents will not keep up with property taxes.  The lots in these areas are often worth 5 times the value of the structures.  That sometimes means the lot is valuable enough to be able to work a construction loan so you could do the scrape and build yourself.  Otherwise, find out who is building in the area and see who wants to buy you out.

Good luck and good hunting!

Check your general policy.  At least for a period, Texas insurers only covered falling water, not rising water.  If the hot water heater or other pipe breaks, they may claim the damage is from 'rising water' and thus not covered.  Also, many areas that are not in flood zones when the houses are built may be in flood zones years later when construction, sometimes miles away, changes the water run-off.  Remember that much of Texas is very flat.  If you own a house for more than a few years, it's best to do a flood plain review and see if it has changed.

@Luisa Paredes

Welcome!  Houston is a pretty competitive market but is still a great place to be.  Sounds like you have your strategy well defined. 

Goals -> Strategy -> Plan -> Action -> Goals

Good luck and good hunting!