All Forum Posts by: Bart H.

Hi all,

I received a letter today from a firm (Texas Tax Protest) that claims they will negotiate your property taxes down on the owner's behalf. Has anyone dealt with this type of firm before?

The cost is $295 and if they don't reduce your taxes by more than $295, you get back the difference (i.e. there's 0 risk for hiring them and only upside).

Seems like a win/win proposition and reviews online look solid. I've only found negative reviews of folks who either 1. got refunded immediately because the firm stated they couldn't represent the property owner for whatever reason or 2. got refunded after the firm tried and couldn't get them a substantial reduction.

Thank you everyone for all of the candid responses. This is very helpful. Lots of good points to consider.

Mindy Jensen Thank you for fixing the spacing and sharing your input about your own experience with a dream home in a nightmare area...something to consider. We do like the area it is just so different than anywhere we’ve lived in the past...The housing stock actually reminds me of the area we currently live in but less populated and less walkable. It’s hard to tell if we will miss the convenient chaos of the current area. Personally I’m over the traffic and snobby people in our current hood. I often walk to the grocery store because I can rarely find parking at our local Publix :(

I'm a bit lost, where do you start when looking to buy your first rental property.

Do you hire a realtor/agent to help pick from a portfolio of investment properties that they determined alongside with their broker a brokers price opinion and appraised income approach? If so do you guys have any suggestions/referral for someone in the Dallas area?

How do you start in today's market to look for a rental property?

I want to find a realtor that has the mindset of an investor, not the mentality of the first-time homebuyer. Not all realtors are made equally or share an equal experience.

$88,000 in Dallas? Sounds like that might classify as a 'war zone'. 

Looking for a mortgage broker who can do a cash out refi on my rental property in TX. Please inbox me your info. Thanks!

Good conversation here. 

Feel free to disagree or disregard a sappy do-gooder like me, but the more I understand real estate, the more complex it becomes. It also has a direct impact on communities and individual lives unlike most other forms of investment. Being a resident of a gentrifying neighborhood, who has grown to know and care about many of my neighbors, I am seeing more clearly that the impact of our investment choices goes beyond just our financial goals. I don't expect everyone to get this, but now being a part of the block parties, having the neighbor kids all up in my house, and having the privilege of teaming up with other able-bodied neighbors to dig the shovel show for the elderly and disabled, I can't help but care about these people, renter, home-owner, whoever. 

It's easy to get all excited about the analytics, market identification, demographic trends, and spotting value, but in the end our investment choices impact real people. I firmly believe that can be for good. Development and investment is an inherently good thing when thoughtfully applied.

It's just way more complex than it seems most folks are willing to consider. I find it exciting because it forces more creativity in finding win-win solutions. 

@Mike Dymski I tend to agree that appreciating values is clearly a win for most home-owners. However, I have found that many are not in a good position to recognize or execute the opportunity. For instance, say you are elderly and your home has fallen into disrepair. It has gone up in value, so you could theoretically take out a home-equity line to fix it up, but on a fixed income, you may not have the ability to pay it back. The primary way for these folks to benefit is to sell the house that they raised their families in. Same thing with tax increases and people on fixed incomes. Many people really to get forced out of their homes through appreciation. For some people, they really would choose stagnant property values if it meant living out their lives with dignity in their own communities.

You are ignoring the biggest problem. Most people are financially illiterate, debilitated by major decisions and generally wish washy. It is just impractical to believe that even 50% of the population is capable of selling a home on their own. I could see some kind of assisted selling, but that is just an app based version of Help-U-Sell. 

The idea that you can simplify this into an app and click to purchase is unrealistic. Don't you think that Amazon and Ebay have already thought this through? Ebay has tinkered in this, but by their own admission they state the challenge is localized laws. They chose to act as an advertising service similar to Zillow.

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/prohibited-rest...

The same problem has affected car sales. The dealership model has been a huge challenge to Tesla. There are ways to buy cars online, like eBay motors, but still most cars are purchased at local lots. 

High dollar transactions involve financing, legal contracts and lots of buyer risk. An app sounds great until the problems start happening.

Most of us on BP are more sophisticated buyers and sellers. Many of you can and do handle your own transactions, but that is not representative of the general population. Buying a house is a little more complex than hailing a taxi.

Thanks for the advice, everyone! To clarify, I'm seeking a personal non-owner-occupied loan, not a commercial. Tom, I actually spoke to a loan officer at Texas National Tyler branch and was told a 20-year ARM is the longest they offer. I might try Jacksonville, or maybe it's just a matter of building a relationship. Regardless, I appreciate your help.

Every state except Texas (I think) sales price is public record.