All Forum Posts by: Victor Steffen

@Erin Fulton

Sounds like the timeline is flexible. I would attend a few real estate meetups and meet with other pros. People who have already done what you’re looking to do and see what their experience has been, what they would do different etc. There are a few really good events picking back up in ATX- Ken Harris runs a terrific group that meets weekly at Casa Chapala in N Austin with about 1/2 the group being accredited investors. I’d go there.

To a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Most realtors will tell you to sell, developers will say subdivide.. my sense is you already have an idea about what will work best for you, you just need to see how viable the option is and how much it will actually cost. Find some folks who have done it, the investment community is full of good people willing to share their experiences.

1. Was offered a 3bed 2 bath house in "Hornsby Bend"... whoever heard of such a place? For 175,000. 10% down and owner would finance the rest at 6% amortized over 20 years, no balloon. The place needed work and foundation needed leveling but it was leased and the tenant had been there for 10 years and wanted to stay. Then Tesla moved in across the street in East Austin and I feel sick basically every time I sell another house for 300k+ on his street... hah

For anybody househacking in New Braunfels TX I'm curious what your average tenant looks like? Student? Employed? What industries? What are you charging per bedroom? Looks like median income is sitting just above 80k, low crime compared to San Antonio and about half the price of Austin. 

Always appreciate your responses on this site Bruce! great insight. Didn't consider the labor shortage. 

Anybody in Austin San Antonio or Waco investing in hotels? I'm seeing them move at cap rates north of 10% and occupancy seems to be almost back to pre-covid numbers (when they were moving at 5-6%). 

Resources for evaluating/ managing/ pitfalls to be ware of seem to be lacking from the interweb in any real detail. Would love to connect and learn how to get started in this space. 

Furnish all common areas and "rough furnish" the bedrooms with a dresser, night stand, bed and mattress (wrapped in a mattress cover of course). 

The tenant pool who leases a room in a house is usually transient and moving in quickly. Your unique selling proposition by offering rooms for rent is the ease and flexibility of moving in. Fully deliver on that. If a tenant can move in with their suitcase and fully furnish the rest of their room on a single target run then you will appeal to a wide pool of tenants looking for exactly what you're offering. 

Short answer: rough furnish the bedrooms, fully furnish the living spaces. 

-one last note, don't go crazy getting pots/ pans/ cups/ kitchen utensils etc... provide the initial items you might find in an airbnb and call it good. Roommate style housing collects these items like a magnet and before long you'll have 12 toasters and no cabinet space. 

Cheers :)

Vic

Good move not comingling the funds, even if you are a couple of buddies "pooling lunch money to buy real estate" (one of my mentor's favorite lines) it's best to have the separation.

1) definitely have him send the money now as long as you are not paying interest on it and your friend knows the returns will begin to be calculated when the capital is deployed. committed capital is much different than cash in the bank. You don't want to go through all the work and have a deal under contract then have your buddy say he just put 20k into bitcoin and the deal will have to wait... 

2) most banks allow you to set up a separate savings account right from your phone (chase, wells fargo, BoA). Park the money in there and don't touch it. If your friend wants to see his money you can show him the account without divulging your personal account details.

3) showing proof of funds is as easy as taking a screenshot of the bank account on your phone. If the cash is distributed across several accounts you can send screen shots of all accounts with a cover letter that says something like "see POF in excess of $xxx,xxx in the following accounts". You could also go old school and have the bank email you a letter saying the same thing.. I just use a screenshot.

At the end of the day, you're just a couple of buddies pulling together some cash to buy real estate. What works for you will look different than what works for others. Good luck! 

Hey my brother is an investor/ wholesaler/ realtor up there with a deep rolodex. I'll shoot a pm and connect you. 

Have you considered Connecticut? CT has great multifamily inventory in that price range towards bridgeport/ stratford on the New Haven line. You could also look along the harlem line, I'm thinking you'll need to be north or brewster though. 

first and third thursday of each month at the towneplace suites in S Austin. 630-830, we always post here as well