All Forum Posts by: Bart H.
Bart H. has started 11 posts and replied 1128 times.
Post: Seller behind on taxes... selling to me... help
- Dallas, TX
- Posts 1,165
- Votes 744
Originally posted by @Tom O.:
Not sure why you even need a closing? What happens if the guy just gives you a quitclaim deed? You record that? Aren't you the owner? This is not legal advice and I am not your lawyer.
NO NO NO no!!!!
You will not have a warrantable deed in Texas, and will have difficulty when you go to sell the property.
Post: Would you buy a duplex with no central air system?
- Dallas, TX
- Posts 1,165
- Votes 744
Originally posted by @Sam Shueh:
Central ac is $6K each provided you have the air ducts. So window AC is a cheaper choice.
In my areas they run about $3,800-$4,000. give or take depending on accessibility, if duct-work needs to be installed etc.
Post: Capital gains (sorry if repost)
- Dallas, TX
- Posts 1,165
- Votes 744
Originally posted by @Rance Craig:
Hi,
I am in the process of selling a rental property. this was formerly my primary residence (3 of past 5 years) and has been rented for 2 years. it is paid off and I will net around $130k prior to taxes. my household income is around $100k and I now own a second home with a mortgage.
My question is, will I be subject to capital gains tax? If so, how much? I want to be sure to set aside enough to pay my taxes. I live in Texas if that changes anything.
Thanks!
I am not a CPA, and this isnt tax advice, but my understanding is if you close within the 2 of the last 5 years total, that you will not owe capital gains. As I understand it though, you will owe taxes on the recapture of depreciation.
Post: Tenants moving out due to roaches
- Dallas, TX
- Posts 1,165
- Votes 744
Originally posted by @Paige Roberts:
Originally posted by @Jon Holdman:
Originally posted by @Paige Roberts:
Originally posted by @Jon Holdman:
They brought them with them when they moved in.
How can i prove that though?
You can't. You said you treated for them immediately before they moved in. Roaches can hide in lots of stuff. If the had roaches where they lived before, there will be roaches and especially roach eggs in their belongings.
Is there some source near this house? Such as a rubbish pile or some such? Did you have a roach problem in this property before these folks moved in? When you've been in there, is it neat and tidy? Or are there dishes in the sink and crumbs on the counter? Food in the bedrooms and living room? It doesn't take much to become a roach attractor.
But all of this is a moot point. They're breaking the lease. You've been diligent about addressing the problem they brought up. Even with a long-term lease, I would consider letting a tenant out, without fees, provided they gave proper notice. When they start demanding rent be returned I get less cooperative.
If you have a landlord/tenant attorney, it might be worth a chat about the situation so you understand your rights and obligations.
Would you return the month of June if they had no beem stayin there for.most of it but left their dog their to let out? It's not a horrible infestation and when it got sprayed last yesterday the pest control told me.they should be taken care of but wanted to make sure so we scheduled a follow up for next week. I told them that and they didn't want to even go back. The female tenant seems to be dramatic about everything and very picky but the house was not kept clean at all. They didn't even care to pick up when I was there all last month putting in New tiles for them. I am a bit of a push over I suppose. Just too nice and want people to be happy with the place.
No, I wouldnt return a thing. They are breaking a lease. You have treated for bugs, as others have said, they probably brought the bugs with them.
Furthermore, I would hold them responsible until I had a new tenant and charge them rent for the vacancy time.
Post: Why would anyone buy rentals in places like Santa Barbara?
- Dallas, TX
- Posts 1,165
- Votes 744
Originally posted by @Storm S.:
one of the reasons I came up with would be for tax reasons here in SB you get more depreciation than you do in gross rents so on paper your property would always be at a loss. Thus you can get tax free income and if you have real estate professional status you can use the losses to offset other income.
Plus maybe you picked up something with a 1031 exchange and are avoiding debt.
Could be a ton of reasons.
Post: Seeking FHA 203K advice and market insight for Dallas, TX / DFW
- Dallas, TX
- Posts 1,165
- Votes 744
Originally posted by @Hunter Peterson:
Hello BP.
I am currently renting a home in Plano, TX. My lease ends in March '19, and I'd like to determine the viability of the following "live-in flip" plan from experienced investors and lenders in DFW:
1. Acquire outdated, fixer upper property North of Dallas as my primary residence using FHA 203K loan.
a. New to DFW & no RE team yet, so no complete tear down properties.
b. Look to find best deal during 2018 holidays (ideally close on a home before 2019).
2. Renovate from Jan-March '19. Must move in by April 1.
3. Depending on the housing market, duplicate process and turn this property into rental or just sell in 2020.
I have the capital to put a 20% down payment on a nice home, but I'd rather leave as much money available as possible to see where the RE market goes and invest those dollars in other REI opportunities as I build my network and set strong, well-informed target parameters for investment properties.
Thank you in advance to anyone who can provide their insight on the "North of Dallas" market and the feasibility of this plan!
-Hunter
Of course there are exceptions, but for the most part sellers aren't really entertaining offers from FHA buyers. The ability to qualify is tougher, the length of time to get a loan etc is going to take you out of the best investment deals.
Honestly its tough to compete in Dallas with anything other than cash offers.
I personally would look for a duplex to house hack, and realize that it might not cash flow at first, and let the time I live there make it a better investment.
That is what we did, the original numbers weren't the greatest when we bought our first duplex. But we bought at a price point where the mortgage was well within our ability to qualify for a SFH.
That way, if we hated being landlords, we would end up with a house whose mortgage was in line with what we would spend anyways on housing. ANYTHING we got in rent was a bonus.
Post: Best car for new real estate agent?
- Dallas, TX
- Posts 1,165
- Votes 744
Originally posted by @Mindi Rosser:
I'm nearing the end of real estate school and will be taking my state exam in mid-July.
I've been reading @Scott Trench's book, Set for Life, and I'm bought into the concepts. The problem I'm having is... figuring out which type of car to get when I move into becoming a real estate agent - don't want to go into much debt, but I also want to put my best foot forward as a professional. I am not quite to the 25k savings goal, but I'm getting close.
I have a 10-year-old minivan currently and don't think that vehicle is appropriate for my market. Any tips or advice?
A paid for one.
I would think any 4 door sedan would be fine. I would go with a US auto company in Griffith with all of the blue collar union folks you will likely be working with.
Post: Which cash flow markets lost little equity during last downturn?
- Dallas, TX
- Posts 1,165
- Votes 744
Originally posted by @Brian Ploszay:
I have a contrarian opinion here. Seattle, today, is high quality real estate. It is where people want to be. The difficulty in producing new housing, protects the value of well located properties.
My second contrarian opinion. The real estate market is not going to crash to the degree it did in 2010. That may have been the deepest correction in our lifetime.
I'd keep the Seattle properties long term. There are big advantages because you live there and know the market. Midwest properties might end up being a headache, plus you don't have the experience of being a local.
I think we will see a downturn in Seattle, its a pretty hot market. Similar to the downturns in property we saw in California back in the day. 2000 being one example.
Nationally, I do agree that I don't see a significant downturn in property values or rental rates, at least not a sustained one. What I do think might happen is we might get a return to significantly higher inflation.
And it might be a good time to own hard assets. 10 years from now, I am fairly confident that we will be glad to have long term fixed rate amortizing debt on our buy and hold properties.
I do think there is risk to those syndications that HAVE to either sell or refinance in the next 3-5 years.. If interest rates spike up, I have to think the returns on those projects could have some refinance risk.
Post: Which cash flow markets lost little equity during last downturn?
- Dallas, TX
- Posts 1,165
- Votes 744
Originally posted by @Jay Hinrichs:
Originally posted by @Bart H.:
Originally posted by @Jay Hinrichs:
Originally posted by @Bart H.:
Originally posted by @Jay Hinrichs:
this was in my mind a hot debate... when I first found that I could talk about real estate on a website .. it was the Property investors forum in Australia.. did not know BP existed .. and actually it was an Aussie who turned me on to this site..
Anyway the raging debate was do you buy in ATL were prices were crushed.. or Texas were prices did not go down.
Well right now that's an easy answer ATL the prices came back up.. FLA they came back up Vegas they came back up.. and Texas has had some appreciation but I think prop tax's keep it mellow on that end.. although Austin is an outlier.
with mid west its not values that are the risk its buying in the right asset class.. and most of the cities are interchangeable. Vis a vi tenant base and so on an so forth..
So then I think it comes down to prop tax's and weather.. and quality of construction going in.. and buying in the right class of property to mitigate tenant risk..
But if you buy a small multi in say Washington.. you have to pay excise tax to sell why not buy in state.. no income tax.
look at Wenatchee ... Walla Walla Spokane etc.. Even Longview is having a resurgence with the over flow from PDX super high prices.. just some thoughts..
Jay, I know you aren't a fan of Texas, And I get why, high property taxes, and foundation issues. but there has been serious price appreciation in Dallas. ITs actually smoked Atlanta for price appreciation both since 2000 and 2008 according to Case-Shiller.
I don't think so frankly.. I was buying foreclosures in ATL brand new construction homes for 50k 1800 sq ft rent 1000 .. I bought 54 of them.. in 2013.. they are now all pushing 125 to 150k.. did properties literally triple in dallas ??? I like Texas for Texans just like I like any other state for the locals.. but Texas to me has inherent risk factors I just don't want to deal with.. but that's me and I am just one guy..
We own a property in Dallas right near downtown, 2012 it sold for 69,900. We bought it in 2015 for 180K, it appraised when we refinanced it in the fall it appraised at $350K. I think it right now might be worth as much as $450 or 500K today. Granted we caught some good fortune with a developer picking up a huge area, maybe a 40 square block area for redevelopment.
Properties right on the South side of the Trinity could be bought just a couple of years ago for 50-60K and the land is in the 180-200K range now.
Case View, Elmwood, Bishop arts, Medical Districts and other neighborhoods have had similar increases.
All I can point to is the Case-Shiller report that I linked to.
got it but those are not really vanilla rentals that most of BP chases.. I love regentrifying areas.. good job.. keep It up. !!! Remember the BP mantra appreciation like your talking about is gambling and its all about cash flow :) you speculator you !!! LOL
LOl….agreed, I always learn a lot listening to you.
Our bread and butter are neighborhoods that are just beginning to turn in the path to progress (usually near downtown, or a major highway) where we can do a little value add, maybe reconfigure it a little, paint, new flooring etc, to get the rent to a place it breaks even/has a little return.
We don't have your deep pockets, so we have to have our properties make a little on the cash flow side, or at least break even when factoring in capex, repairs, vacancy, management etc.
But I agree with you , when you hit a gentrifying neighborhood, you will make multiples of what someone trying to play a pure class /D neighborhood for 2% will make.
Post: Which cash flow markets lost little equity during last downturn?
- Dallas, TX
- Posts 1,165
- Votes 744
Originally posted by @Will G.:
@Bart H. I hear Dallas is the new hotspot for california migration and hence the appreciation, true?
I have heard that as well, but I haven't personally come across it directly.
There had been an influx into the metro area from Toyota moving from California. And I think there are some investors who are just buying into this area because others say its a great place to me.
Personally I think the run here has happened. I don't know that it is likely to continue, at least not in the dramatic pace we have seen over the last few years.
I see a lot of people posting on BP talking about Dallas like it is an easy place to buy real estate. All I know is its getting very tough to find decent deals right now. I see a lot of wholesalers trying to flip the same garbage around multiple times.
But we would see a big gap up in price if Amazon came to Dallas