All Forum Posts by: Robb Almy

Welcome to BP, Rodney! BRRRRs and Flips are not as easy to come by in Fredericksburg as they once were but still doable. You will likely need to find something off market. Best wishes and happy investing! 

Hi Kevin,

I have a couple of rentals in Fredericksburg and I allow pets (charging a pet deposit and monthly pet rent to cover damages and wear and tear). I allow pets on a case by case basis that way I have the ability to say no to a pet I do not want. To my knowledge, there are no city ordinances prohibiting domesticated animals but you can always contact the City. For the insurance, I would suggest you contact your agent but it has not affected my insurance to have pets. I do have a tenant with a support animal that is allowed and pet rent cannot be charged. 

Hope that helps. Happy investing!

Here are some (not all) ideas to consider. As always, seek professional help local to you. 

Gather some market data- look for local market reports and engage a commercial real estate broker who can provide some great market insights.

Consider your site- what is the accessibility? surrounding amenities?

Work with the local experts- talk with local zoning officials, engage architects, and reach out to contractors to understand the cost and feasibility of your project.

Run your numbers- do some forecasting and layout some financial models to project costs, revenues, and returns.

Make sure you are utilizing your team- aforementioned real estate broker, financial advisor/ CPA, and lawyer and others as you go.

Best wishes and good luck.

Chris Ramsey sells a guide/ coaching on the topic of contractor garages. You can check it out here. https://chrisramsey.ck.page/ae6f9f468e

I have not bought the guide or used it and cannot vouch for him or it, just sharing as a potential resource. At the very least you might get his free newsletter or follow on Twitter or Insta for some of his free pointers if not interested in the guide. 

Best wishes!

In previous transition times in history (the switch to steam, industrial revolution, electricity, Internet) humanity has adapted and new jobs were created. Like all technology, I expect AI will have a deflationary effect on goods and I anticipate new and different jobs will be created for those that are replaced. 

I share your optimism but I am not sure this means we are out of the woods yet in terms of rates. Time will tell. Here is what J Scott had to offer on Zuck's quaint alternative social media site. 

My top reasons are:

- Current income
- Hope of price appreciation
- Vacation home to go to
- Store of value/hedge against inflation

One other reason for me that I am not sure is captured in the original list is that STRs is what my market gave me. The price to income ratio on SFRs in my area did not make sense any longer so I transitioned to STRs. 

Great question!

@Sandeep Jain if you would like to do some reading around some of the asset protection issues I would recommend Garrett Sutton's Loopholes of Real Estate or Mauricio Rauld's Legal Strategies for Everyone. Best wishes and happy investing. 

I know for a couple of my STRs the management company uses the keypad system whereby they are able to set codes offsite for each renter and this is super helpful when working correctly. We have occasionally run into issues with the Internet being down at the STR and it not all going through with a tenant now using a code that doesn't work. As a workaround, we have a hidden lockbox that the tenant can access if code doesn't work and get a physical key. All that said, I would very much use the keypad as it just makes life generally easier for all.

We have been looking into cameras as well and I have been researching. I think it depends on your property as to where you put them, but we are thinking of either using a Ring or something near the front door to just monitor number of guests. In my opinion, exterior cameras do not represent an invasion of privacy. 

@Chris Seveney Thanks for your reply. Do you find the info useless because there is not a big enough sample or because it was only readers subscribed to their newsletter? 

@Nicholas L. I certainly understand your point about price. Cash flow is the name of the game when it comes to controlling the asset so you are right it really doesn't matter whether the value goes up or down as long as you can carry it. 

I think the data from the survey is what it is and would certainly not make any investments based on it. I do think it lends itself to a conversation of where prices are going. Like politics, real estate is local (even hyper local sometimes) and none of us have a crystal ball.

It has been interesting to see prices come down in places like Florida, Texas and Idaho and inventory in those places return to pre-pandemic levels. Conventional wisdom would have said with rates so high (comparatively speaking to where they were) demand and prices would have lessened in more places and more quickly but in many places prices have held steady even as inventory creeps up. It will be interesting to see what happens if we get a Fed rate cut or two before the end of the year what will happen.