All Forum Posts by: Bart H.

Originally posted by @Taylor Matthews:

Does anyone have experience with late fees when rents are in the 2000's+? Seems that $50 may be insignificant for those higher rent areas. 

Outs is $100 initial late fee and $20/day afterwards.  Late fees kick in after the 4th day of the month, this is on a rent of $2,300/month 

Originally posted by @Travis Howser:

Hello BP, looking for an out-of-state area to invest in and have done some research in the surrounding areas of Dallas. Wanted to see if you are still choosing this area to invest in, why or why not?  Thanks!

 I think deals can be found in every city and every timeframe.  Having said that, DFW has just gone thru an amazing run.  We wont see another run  in the next few years like it unless Amazon moves here.

I think values have gotten to the high side of things.  IF your time horizon is 2-3 years, I wouldn't buy in Dallas, if your time horizon is 10 years,  Its a great time to buy.

IMO its tough enough to find anything here in Dallas let alone trying to find it from a distance.

I think we would be interested and willing to have someone we paid a nominal fee each year just to be able to answer a call or a couple of emails. Maybe do an initial consultation and/ or an annual checkup and onboarding to get us set up properly in terms of entities etc. ie does it make sense to create an llc. maybe have an packet available to answer basic questions like dos and donts of fair housing, evictions, Collections, recent law changes,the setup and use of an llc, trusts, wills etc That way we are initially doing things properly and have built a relationship before we have larger engagements or are paying thousands due to initial poor planning.

Originally posted by @Fatin K.:

Hello,

I am looking to purchase a SFH next year (in DFW) as a long term rental property investment and was curious about peoples thoughts on timing. I have seen posts/articles that mention end of year is a good time to buy deals but on the other hand the holidays are not ideal to find renters.

Is there a target time of year to buy to rent out? As a landlord would you try to set up the lease contract to end at certain times of the year where you would avoid potential vacancy (like the summer or holidays)? I am a first time investment buyer so any insights would be greatly appreciated.

Much Thanks!

We buy the deal, and worry about renting it later.

This is the second year in a row we have been looking at properties and had a house under contract on the Monday after Thanksgiving.  

If you are going to do any rehab, then it should be rent ready and on the market by January (if not before that)...

Originally posted by @Jesse Mitchell:

Hi Mara, I would recommend Jim Huff for your inspection. He is a little old school but is a wealth of information, I really enjoyed going through my duplex with him. I saw you mentioned in the Bradley area, where did you end up finding a property? I happen to live next door to Bradley myself..

 Thanks for the recommendation, we have reached out to him.

If it all goes well next time we are in Peoria, maybe we can buy a round of drinks near campus town.

Originally posted by @Liwen Gu:

Originally posted by @Paul B.:

Originally posted by @Liwen Gu:

I'm not referring to cold weather and snowstorms, I'm referring more to hurricanes and flooding

 Then you must be thinking of Houston. We don't get hurricanes here, and flooding is probably no worse than any other city.

 Hmm maybe, I thought Dallas had problems with flooding too but I guess Hurricane Harvey didn't really affect it? I thought there was something a couple of years ago, I remember people at my office discussing about how bad the weather is in Dallas and it just stuck with me.  Maybe it was just the overall humidity. Oh well, I'll do more research next time.

 Humidity?

Dallas isn't all that humid.  Once again you are thinking about Houston.

Dallas is a lot less humid than where I grew up in central Illinois, and its a low less humid than say Chicago or Stl.

All of that not withstanding, I think all of this comes down to where can Amazon get the most money/incentives and still be able to set up shop.  I would be shocked if they put anything on the west coast, since they already have a strong presence on the West Coast with Seattle.

I would think they would go with a growing state that provides them access to politicians.  I think they would be looking for places with great access to airports,  growing metro areas, etc.

My guess is they end up in Atlanta.

Originally posted by @Liwen Gu:

I'm not referring to cold weather and snowstorms, I'm referring more to hurricanes and flooding

 I didn't see this until now....

You realize that Dallas is 232 miles from Houston right?  I really think you dont know much about Dallas.

Originally posted by @Liwen Gu:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/... posted by @Bart H.:

Originally posted by @Liwen Gu:

Somehow I just can't see Amazon choosing Dallas as it's 2nd HQ...Dallas has really awful weather, I imagine Amazon would want a more desirable place for its employees.

 Have you even been to Dallas?  Why do you think the weather is awful?  Its got a couple of months that are hot, its got a ton of sunny days, the winters are very mild.

I've never lived in Dallas but I've visited Dallas a number of times. I have a cousin with attended college there. For me, Dallas is just a big city with a lot to do and see but not what I would consider a beautiful/charming city (same problem I have with Atlanta) and I'm not a fan of 100+ degree weather with the humidity (natural disasters are up for debate). If I were given a choice between Seattle and Dallas, I would definitely choose Seattle but I guess not a lot of people like the rain and grey skies either. It would be interesting to do a poll of graduates from the top Computer Science programs in the country and find out where they want to live in.

 Dallas has been one of the biggest destinations for graduates from the University of Illinois, which by most accounts is and has been one of the top 2 or3 computer science/EE programs in the country.  Texas Instruments is based here and the engineering group for many years was run by UofI grad and Nobel prize winner Jack Kilby.

It is also a super common destination for University of Texas grads another top 5 program in addition to A&M and other schools.

There is a ton of tech/tellecom already in Dallas between Lockheed, Raytheon, L3, Sabre, and a ton of others.

Yes Dallas isn't for everyone, but you know what, neither is Seattle or Silicon valley.

BTw...I know you haven't ever been to South dallas and looked back from the Trinity at the Dallas skyline, its very scenic, one of the best skylines in the country.  And one of these days it will be better utilized, but Dallas has the largest urban forest/park of any city in the country and is 12-15x's the size of central park.

Dallas has not had an issue with attracting top talent for other tech companies, I find it a bit arrogant when those who live on the coasts assume the middle states are rubes and talent doesn't want to move there.  

Its one of the fastest growing metro areas in the country, and a large portion of that is high tech, high skilled labor.

Not everyone wants to cram themselves into a small house to live under clouds and rain for 3/4ths the year.  Dallas has a lot more affordability and has access to every one of the activities as any other major city.

Dallas is one of the FEW cities who CAN attract enough talent for such a large company to place itself here.

Originally posted by @Dominique Colas:

Thanks for the advise @Bart H.. i had not thought about having issues with financing. I do plan on moving and working permanently at a full time position. I am a nurse so it should not be too difficult for me to find a job. My contract work is only for a short time while I travel. If I plan on getting a FHA owner occupied loan, I will be moving into the home. As far as the w-2 is concerned, that is something I really need to talk to a broker about.

Oh, yeah, I am sure you will have no problem finding a job as a nurse.  I hope my comment didn't come across that way, All I was saying was that stated income/contractors will have different underwriting standards than those having w2 incomes

Originally posted by @Dominique Colas:

@Account Closed

In my family home, I have had very negative experiences with bad contractors so that is what really erks me about renos. If I can find a good deal with FHA 203K loan and a well recommend contractor, I would consider a rehab property.

This is just very new to me and I am a nervous that something may go wrong and I will not know what to do. Thanks for you responses, they did help me to think about the options available.

Here is the thing, as a landlord there will always be things that go wrong.  The important thing is adapting to them and going forward.

In a class a/b neighborhood, you will have extreme difficulty finding any home that will easily cash flow.  And those that do come on the market that do will be under contract in 24-48 hours.

One question I would ask is do you plan on moving soon?  and do you have enough w-2 income to qualify?

If you are on short term contracts, I don't know how underwriters will view your income towards qualifying for a home.  As an example I know people who are self employed have a lot of difficulty qualifying for loans. Its something I would ask a mortgage broker.

As far as house hacking goes, I am very certain that Dallas properties will be worth substantially more than they are now in good neighborhoods 10 years from now.  I don't know if they will be worth more 1 or 2 years from now.  If you have a longer time horizon, I think it will be fine, even a great idea to buy a duplex, and rent out the other side, and/or possibly even individual rooms.