All Forum Posts by: Stuart Chinworth

Glad you were able to secure a meeting. Here is a link that might be usuful. Keep up updated on your progress! 

City of Dallas GIS Zoning Map

 You are very welcome! Let us know if you get any traction with that and how things are going. 

All I can say is I wish I had gotten my license in college! You must be a better student than I was because I recall a lot of wasted time that I could have been using to build up my business. 

You have a unique advantage, you know where students want to live and what they will be willing to pay for rent. I would start talking with every student I know to see if there parents had thought about purchasing a home to help offset some of the financial burdens of college. Then pick about 5 or so homes that cash flow, run the numbers on those and have the students send that data to their folks for consideration. You could also build a model that would show how much they would save when buying vs. renting (cash flow, loan pay down, depreciation, etc.). 

Typically with in-fill lots, your options are going to be driven by the local codes, current zoning and what the surround properties are zoned for. If it's zoned MF and the surrounding properties are also MF, that's your path of least resistance to getting something done. I would recommend starting a conversation with the city to get a much better understanding of what your options are. An architecture or engineering firm would charge a lot of money to find out the same info you can with a phone call to the city. 

Once you have determined what you feel is the best use for the property, I would then start backing into some numbers to help estimate a value. Look at area rent rates, construction costs, etc. to get a better idea of what the spreads are (thats what your buyer will care about). That will give you a good idea of what someone would be willing to pay for vacant land. 

@Brenda Akinyi you are very welcome! If you have any questions or want to talk something out, feel free to reach out. 

Hey Brenda! Wichita Falls has a lot to offer from a rental perspective. I think the local college, Air Force base and the significant amount of industry make it a great option. It is also often overlooked, which is a major plus.

When looking at a new area, I always like to check out crimemapping.com to see if some areas stand out (good or bad). Then take a look at the rent rates in those areas and check to see how that compares to 'for sale' prices. From there you can underwrite a few properties to see what cashflows and what doesn't. That should give you a good basic metric to use to quickly review properties. 

As a life long Texas resident who has lived in Fort Worth, Lubbock, New Braunfels and now Granbury, I would agree with everything @Brandon Stewart has said. 

1. Energy is a huge industry in Texas but the states economy has diversified significantly since the 80's oil bust. 

2. Most small towns within 30-45 minutes of any larger city (150k+) that are anywhere close to a highway are most likely growing. THESE are spots where you can find some great deals. 

3. You can find any type of climate you want in this state. DFW, Austin, Houston and San Antonio are located in rather humid parts of the state, not dry by any means. 

4. Lots of land, yes but not sure how that negatively impacts investing. 

Lots of places to invest around the county. I think if you are wanting to explore the idea of investing in Texas, I would recommend looking at the small towns that surround DFW. I am very bullish on any town that has some type of historic square or Main Street, is close to industry/ jobs and is not actively fighting the growth. If you are open to areas outside of DFW, Amarillo and Lubbock are fantastic options also. We invest in Lubbock and it is a very stable market with steady growth. 

If the property is set up in a way that would allow you to sell the units individually in the future, if you needed or wanted to, having separate utilities would be a major plus. It also gives you the chance to have the utilities in the tenants name and they are then covering 100% of those costs. I know some water districts will not allow multiple water meters on one property (TCEQ Reg) unless it is a multifamily property, which is sounds like yours might qualify for, depending on how it's set up. 

If water and electric are already onsite, the septic should be pretty straightforward. Depending on how the property is set up, I would try to do individual systems for each unit, not a shared system for all units.

@Caleb Erwin You are right, great problem to have. A couple thoughts right off the bat, I know you mentioned no restrictions, does that mean the property is outside of the city limits? If so, that does make things easier. The other big factor is the utilities, if you have electrical, county water and sewer, thats a major plus. If you don't, it could directly impact how you can develop the land. 

Either way, it sounds like an interesting opportunity. Feel free to message me if you want to talk some of this out.