All Forum Posts by: Sharon Tzib

Hi @Pamela Russell! I've helped a few investors purchase multi-families in Houston. The podcast with Kevin Wood will tell you more: https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2016/03/24/bp-podcast-1670-25-units-year-part-timekevin-wood/

Feel free to PM me if you want to talk further. Thanks! Sharon

Hey @patricknguyen! The down turn started 2 years ago. I think it is safe to say Houston is quite diversified now, and it is having little to no effect on the lower end of the market.  Homes in the upper tier ($250k +) are taking longer to sell, however. Gas prices have been inching up here lately.  We're probably the only city in the country who gets excited when that happens lol!

http://www.har.com/content/newsroom

Houston Real Estate Highlights in May:

• Single-family home sales rose 10 percent compared to last May;
• On a year-to-date basis, single-family home sales are up 3.4 percent;
• Total property sales jumped 7.1 percent to 8,703 units;
• Total dollar volume rose 7.3 percent to $2.4 billion;
• At $290,931, the single-family home average price was statistically unchanged from last year;
• The single-family home median price was also flat at $225,000;
• Single-family homes months of inventory climbed to a 3.6-months supply versus 3.0 months a year earlier;
• Townhome/condominium sales were unchanged with the average price down 2.6 percent to $198,411 and the median price up 7.6 percent to $163,000;
• Leases of single-family homes were up 4.1 percent with rents unchanged at $1,866;
• Leases of townhomes/condominiums soared 10.7 percent with rents unchanged at $1,666.

@Dru Bennett 4 out of 10 people rent in Houston, which is why it's always been a great place to be an investor. We still have a lot of people moving here because the economy is still strong overall, and they like to rent for a year or two to get the lay of the land before purchasing. Others need to strengthen their credit or save for a down payment. Others still are not ready to buy. Lots of reasons. And yes, numbers are year over year.

@Trent Herbert the under $250K market is brutal right now. Multiple offers within days of putting a home on the market. The over $250K market, where you might live, has softened, presumably because a lot of the oil and gas execs need to sell. 

@Andrea Collatz I sent you a message with the App # and details. The only thing you can do to help me is to expedite the repair of the IT bug on the eviction notices for the two applicants. So far, one has already called in an received a refund, so it's probably too late. Feel free to call me, I left you my cell in the PM. Thank you.

@David Coleman I would love to help her, but I am a realtor, not a lender, so I cannot say if she will qualify or at what purchase price. Have her give me a call and I can speak with her about the process and give her lender referrals so she can get things started. Thanks!

@David Coleman - before you purchase a home, you should talk to a lender. They will look at your income, debt to income ratio, credit score, savings, etc. and let you know what you qualify for. It also depends if you are buying an owner occupant or investment property as well. You don't always need as high of a credit score as some think. PM me if you'd like some Houston lender referrals.

http://www.har.com/content/newsroom

Houston Real Estate Highlights in April

• Single-family home sales declined a fractional 0.6 percent compared to last April;
• On a year-to-date basis, single-family home sales are up 1.6 percent;
• Total property sales declined 2.0 percent to 7,583 units;
• Total dollar volume fell 1.6 percent to $2.01 billion;
• At $278,544, the single-family home average price was down 1.0 percent compared to last April;
• The single-family home median price rose 3.3 percent year-over-year to an all-time April high of $217,000;
• Single-family homes months of inventory climbed to a 3.6-months supply versus 2.9 months a year earlier;
• Townhome/condominium sales fell 12.6 percent with the average price up 4.1 percent to $206,832 and the median price up 7.3 percent to $153,450;
• Leases of single-family homes leapt 18.1 percent with rents up 2.6 percent to $1,811;
• Leases of townhomes/condominiums soared 26.0 percent with rents down 1.7 percent to $1,574.

I'm  done with My Smart Move. They are constantly having "IT glitches," as they call them, like not being able to add the landlords to the rental so they can peruse the reports.

The latest, however, was the straw that broke the camel's back. I had three applicants, and two of the three did not generate eviction reports. Obviously, that's one of the main reasons I use a tenant screening service, to see if they have past evictions.

According to My Smart Move, it is an "IT" issue, and they can either report it to IT to fix, which takes 24-48 hours; or the tenants can call them and get a refund, and then I have to reissue the application request. This is hugely inconvenient to all parties, not to mention slowing the process needlessly. Considering the tenants are requesting a Saturday move in date, time is of the essence here, and if we lose the applicants because of this, my client and I will be livid.

I've decided I'm going to give Turbo Tenant a try next time. When companies can't complete the one simple task they advertise, then something is wrong.

I refer all my Houston investor clients to @Jerry Ta. He's got great service at very affordable rates, which helps your bottom line :) He covers most of greater Houston.