All Forum Posts by: Sterling Williams

Sevan,

I would start by interviewing agents and get their take on the market. A good agent will be able to get you into a couple of designated markets based on your asset criteria. Once you get to this point, start analyzing the submarkets selected with the comps your agent will be providing. With the comps provided, you’ll be able to narrow in on a fair rental value based on condition, price per sqft, number of beds/baths, asset class etc. Now if you're looking at multifamily, you may be also factoring in utilities such as electric, gas and most commonly water due to many MF properties within SA being on a common water meter. Once you have the numbers, start running through the BP calculators.

Find a good property manager as well. An agent’s projections on rents are a good start, but your property manager will have a good feel on the pulse of the rental market and should advise and assist if the property is in need of repairs to stabilize.

www.rentometer.com is a good resource if you want to take a quick look at local rents, but I caution you that they do not give you an absolutely accurate picture of what rent a property can achieve and can under or overestimate in many cases.

Establish your team and start analyzing deals. If you get the feeling that your agent is pushing you into questionable deals, move to the next one until you’ve found an agent and team looking out for your best interest.

There’s a lot of great local agents and property manager’s on this forum who can help assist you in purchasing your first San Antonio investment property. 

Mike,

The far west side is a great area of town and one of the fastest growing areas within the United States. The area benefits for several reasons, but one of the main reasons is proximity and accessibility to 1604 & 151. Employers such as UTSA, Valero, National Security Agency, Lackland AFB, Kelly Field, Medical Center are all within a 15 min drive. The far west side is primarily going to be A & B class single family with some larger A & B Multifamily mixed in. The school district is solid, you really can’t go wrong with the Far West side of town if the numbers work. In this case, due to days on market, you have some room to possibly negotiate the price down and you always have the option period to try and negotiate further after inspection and appraisal. Being conservative with the lowest price per sqft ($.61 per sqft) for a 4 bedroom (No 5-bedroom rental comps), you’re looking at around $1,797.00 per month.

Good luck moving forward!

 New construction is not what you're looking for. You're not going to find cashflow with a new construction MF property. Start conducting agent interviews and ask them what their strategy would be, and select the agent that most closely correlates with your goals. Work with your selected agent and build up a relationship. You will always have us here within the BP network to bounce questions off of.      

Almaz, 

Depending on your strategy, both may not be a good asset for you to look at. What are you looking to do? 

Kristin,

Start having conversations with agents and investors in those select cities and get a feel for the submarkets within. It sounds like you’re working on an investment strategy as of now and you’ll start to narrow in on your focus as you continue to gain insight and knowledge.

If you’re looking to invest in a foreign market, having a trusted agent and property manager is crucial as is their network of trusted contractors and third-party vendors. This is one of the hardest aspects to investing out of town or out of state, as you will be placing a tremendous amount of trust in your team and this isn’t built overnight. You’ll most likely have many conversations before you pull the trigger on your first deal. During that time ask the agent you decide to move forward with for his/her contacts and speak with them as well. You’re looking for a well-oiled machine and a team that moves in synchrony and always looking out for your best interest, not their own bottom line.

If financing conventionally (25%), I don’t believe new construction MF would be a great fit. This asset tends to be better for the 1031 Investor coming in with 30+% down and sometimes the “house hacker”. For your first purchase, I would look for a 2-4 door asset that is underperforming with some value-add potential within a B/B- market. Minimize the risk during the first purchase and use this as the time to build a relationship and trust with your team. Once your team is established and you have one or two purchases under your belt, then you may want to start looking at increasing your risk tolerance a bit and looking at gentrifying submarkets within whichever designated city.

Also, stay in touch with your agent or wholesaler and stay top of mind. Both will likely stay in touch with you, but we always like to see that reciprocated.

If new construction is solely what you're interested in, I have a couple of hyperlinks below that I have attached to a couple of MF builders. Try and catch pre-construction so you can have an inspector conduct a three-phase inspection (foundation, frame, and final) throughout the time they are being built. I would work with an agent who isn’t representing the builder so that you know that your best interest is always in mind.

Duplexes of Texas

Value Builders

Duplexes of Texas will be breaking ground on a new subdivision on the far west side of San Antonio between 151 and 1604 on Potranco around May. This is the fastest growing area of town and provides a great rental market. 

Good luck moving forward! 

Alex,

You really have a lot of options within San Antonio, it’s an urban sprawl with major employers spread throughout the MSA. What type of property are you looking for (single or MF) and what is some of your other criteria? With that, we can better focus in on area’s that would work best for you. 

Check out  Bongo Property Management. The last I heard they were charging around 15%. You'll want someone who has some familiarity with managing Airbnb's specifically and can help you strategize static or dynamic pricing to better compete with neighboring properties to keep occupancy up as well as a manager who has a dependable cleaning company who is familiar with turning around a rental after the guests depart. Make sure your HOA allows short-term rentals before you waste too much time.

I like Highland Park. The area has seen an increase in investor activity over the last two years. Single-family ARV comps are readily available, however, not so much on the MF side. The area has many of the amenities renters are looking for (i.e. HEB, Cinemark movie theatre, restaurants, retail, close to downtown, I-37 & I-10 access, St. Philips College etc.). If Essex Modern gets off the ground, this area becomes very interesting. Property values and rent have been steadily increasing throughout Highland Park. If you find a property that pencils, I would pull the trigger.

If you're looking for an investor who owns an asset in Highland Park and have questions, reach out to @Scriven Hoefs via BP.       

Amazon HQ won't have an impact on the San Antonio Market due to proximity. I don't specialize in the Austin or Dallas markets so I have no in-depth guidance or insight to provide.   

We haven't been actively marketing the property, but it is available. Reach out if you have any questions.