All Forum Posts by: Richard McLain

Kent, I echo Brandon's reply about Oklahoma City but I will add a twist.  For rentals, staying with investments below $1,500 monthly rent is best because tenants who pay $1,500 and up generally do not remain tenants long term.  They have the financial wherewithal to purchase a hope (and most do).  We have a lot of long term tenants (I own and/or manage 160+ doors).  High occupancy isn't sexy, but that's what a good property manager will achieve, plus it's much easier to maintain a property with the tenant's money than the owner's money.  Just my two cents.  DM me if you need help acquiring or managing.

Brian:  I do own some oil and gas investments, but I have others manage those for me.  I have an office with two administrative assistants.  I have a project manager in the field every day, and I have a full time maintenance man.  And I am out in the filed 33% of the time.

Will, sure it's a good time to sell if you've been waiting for a target number, and the market is giving you your target. No market goes straight up. That's what gives rise to the vernacular saying "like a stock market graph". That being said, I see VERY strong fundamentals in OKC, and I could type 9 paragraphs, but as in religion, you either believe it or you don't. This SFR real estate market is going up in OKC.

So I have accumulated 143 "doors" in Oklahoma City over 18 years, and I am 63 years old.  I have NEVER seen such a promising environment as I see now, with rents and values rising.  Who's with me?

If you feel inclined to invest out of state, you should look at Oklahoma City.  I'll help you out if you want.

I've been prudently using bank debt for my rentals for 17 years and counting.  

@Davido Davido Using an unknown, locally unlicensed, out of state builder, without any relationships with Subs, mandating a super tight and probably unrealistic budget, with an unrealistic time frame? That’s insane!

@Jillian B. If you are going to refinance anytime soon to pull enough cash to build the ADU, then quitting your job will negatively affect your Debt to Income ratio. If you decide against the ADU, from a purely economic point of view, using the cash you already pulled out, then investing in a lower cost market like OKC, you could (by staying in the lower end of the spectrum) have more rentable units and thus a higher overall return. You would need to use bank debt to leverage your out of town investments to make this work though.

@Jazlynn Gibbs, the difference this time is having Trump involved who is super unpredictable. His tariff war is real and I would not underestimate his resolve in bashing China but at the same time Trump is very mindful of US manufacturing and supply chain problems. His bark is a lot worse than his bite. As to the effect on real estate investing (recession or not), I don't see a large impact on the middle or low end of the SFR market, which is largely driven by rental demand, so long term rental investors will be fine so long as they maintain their properties and continue to be responsive to their customers (tenants). Flippers will also do fine (recession or not) so long as they continue to buy & sell regularly because prices (buying on the front end and selling on the back end) tend to move together. Lastly, these low interest rates give all real estate investing a significant tail wind (recession or not). All this to say you asked the wrong question. The better question is: what will interest rates do over the next 5 years?

@Eliel Martinez, if you need an experienced real estate broker in Oklahoma City, I am your guy. I own & operate approximately 140 doors myself plus I do acquisitions & property management for investors. Prices are rising in Oklahoma City, but we are on the front end of that trend, which is a good thing.