All Forum Posts by: Leigh Ann Smith

2 million!  That's amazing!  I've been listening to the podcasts so much that I'm having to stop and bite my tongue to keep from constantly saying, "I was just listening to this podcast, and they said that....".  

Thanks for the preparation you do, @Joshua Dorkin  and @Brandon Turner and for always asking for clarification when a guest says something that you know a newbie won't understand. That's the best part of it, I think....when you guys ask just the question that has popped into my mind!

@Ben Hughes , @Andres Jaramillo , and @David J. ,  

David said that a cash on cash return of 9% is a solid single.  That seems lower than what I would suspect/hope.  I realize that each part of Houston is different, but what projected  cash on cash rate of return would you consider acceptable when you evaluate a property to buy and hold?

Hi @Nicholas Guillemette , welcome to Biggerpockets! My husband and I are new investors looking for SFH's on the south side of Houston. too. We are not focusing on Pearland, but when looking at Zillow Rentals, I've noticed quite a few homes for rent (and some for sale) in Rodeo Palms. The rents are a bit high, and I suspect that's why there are lots of them available. The homes are relatively new, and they may be priced too high to make them good buy and hold properties. I haven't driven around over there, but someone told me that a lot of the houses aren't being well kept up, which leads me to believe that lots of them could be rentals.

Another little anecdote is that I have a friend living in a <1500 sq. ft 3 br house that was probably built in the last 10-15 years. It's in a subdivision behind Strickland Chevrolet.  I think they're paying around $1600/month for rent, but those houses are valued in the $150K range.

Hop over to the new member's forum and introduce yourself.  You'll be greeted warmly and will probably get some good newbie advice, too!

I was kidding about meetings at Starbucks, but I really do want to know about record keeping for single member LLC's. Can anyone point me to a helpful resource?

When you have a single member LLC, it seems a bit silly to say that you held a meeting. But without meeting minutes, how do you track what you are doing for legal purposes? Prepare a quarterly report of some kind, perhaps?

And if I do have a single member meeting, can I take myself to Starbucks for the meeting and deduct the cost of my coffee?  Just kidding......

Great info, @Craig Brouillette !   So, do you think Christmas tree farms will be considered a desirable industry for the bank?  Probably not..... ;-)

We have a business unrelated to real estate that is a sole proprietorship (no LLC). An offer came in the mail from Wells Fargo saying that our business is pre-qualified for a BusinessLine line of credit of up to $100,000 at 5% - 13% "depending on your personal and business credit evaluation".

We have just set up an LLC for real estate investing. Assuming the terms are favorable, could we take out this loan for our sole proprietorship, then transfer the money to our LLC? Since the loan would not be secured by the rental property, I would presume that the bank would not have any say over what we do with the money as long as we are making the payments.

Also, would this be piercing the corporate veil?  I'm going to post a separate message about the corporate veil, because there are some generalities that I do not understand.

I don't know a lot about Richmond, @John Thi .  There are definitely people who live there and drive in to Houston to work, but that wouldn't be a fun commute.  I would be careful about the individual schools down that way.  I think they are probably in the Ft. Bend School District.  Ft. Bend has some very high end areas and some that are still kind of country....but not in a good way. 

An interesting thing about Sugar Land and the surrounding area is that it is very diverse, and that IS in a good way.  There are lots of engineers and oil company employees from India and from the middle east, along with Asians, white people, African-Americans, and Latinos.  I was in the library in Sugar Land once and looking around at all the different kinds of people happily coexisting and getting their library books, I thought how great it would be if everywhere were like that!

In my previous post, I meant to say that not all of the homes in that ZIP CODE will go to Friendswood schools.  Obviously, all of the homes in the school district will.  :-)

Hi @John Thi , We are newbies who don't have any deals under our belt yet, but we've lived in Houston most of our lives, so I can share the little bit I know.

Friendswood school district is coveted.  Most of the homes in Friendswood are high-end, but there are some neighborhoods with older, smaller homes.  The zip there is 77546, but not all of the homes in that school district will go to Friendswood schools.  

Spring Branch supposedly has some really good schools (not sure if they are all good).  That's the area that's mostly north of I-10 between 610W and Beltway 8 (Sam Houston Parkway).  It's also closer in to town, so that's a plus for downtown workers.  

There are lots of refineries and chemical plants on the east/southeast side of town (I-10E & Hwy 225), so there is a decent base of people there who are working and have a reasonable paycheck.  Those are older areas, and you might be able to find something that would be a good rental property with a bit of rehab.

You can find some decent deals on the south side of Houston (that's where we live and where we're looking for our first deal), but foundation work is very often part of the package.  That's our next thing to research....just how much does foundation work cost, anyway? 

Speaking of the south side of Houston, keep in mind that all coastal counties (even if the home is in the northernmost part of the county) require windstorm insurance, and it's very pricey.  We just payed $1,800 for ours for the year.  There is even a part of Harris County that is in the windstorm area.  Check the Texas windstorm maps to be sure.  Flood insurance is often necessary in the Houston area, even in the non-coastal counties, and it's going up 25% per year right now. Keep us posted on where you decide to focus!