All Forum Posts by: Brian Whitten

Hey guys, we just finished a luxury rehab in Tarrytown and had www.austinbirdsivideo.com do a video for marketing.  He did a great job and I would recommend it for your rehabs in Austin.  The price was reasonable.  Here is a link to the video he made for us if you want to check it out.  http://www.tallytwoinvestmentgroup.com/properties/2104-stamford-lane/

We have two lots we are looking to wholesale quickly for a discount in 78745. $200,000 gets you over .5 acres and two contiguous lots. Boundary, Tree, and Topo surveys ordered and should have back by Monday. For more details and pictures go to http://www.tallytwoinvestmentgroup.com/properties/two-austin-lots-for-sale/

We are looking for an investor to take over one of our rehabs just outside of Austin.  It is a 2+ hr drive to get back and forth from the project and we just can't do it anymore.  A video walk-through of the rest of the project, detials, and pitures of the project can be found here.

http://www.tallytwoinvestmentgroup.com/properties/...

ARV $210,000

Rehab left $25,000-$30,000

Your price $135,000

@Filip Vaco The VA loan can be used at any time, including while you are STILL IN the military. The one catch with the VA loan is that it needs to be used for your primary residence. I have heard of military members who use this by living in the house while they are renovating. Good luck out there in Afghanistan!

@Dante Devine We just finished a 2 condo remodel in Barton Hills which is a great neighborhood in Austin to be buying.  It is on the lower end of your price range, but would be great for an investor to buy-and-hold.  The address is 2306 Arpdale Austin TX 78704.  It is priced at $350,000 and without looking at comps would probably rent for about $2200ish.  http://www.tallytwoinvestmentgroup.com/properties/...

@Carolyn L. 

I do not have experience in exactly what you are doing, but in the past year I have had much of the same issues.  Tally Two was debating on whether or not to purchase a distressed property out in Bastrop.  Schedule C on the title search was about as long as a toilet paper roll and included all sorts of liens including a dreadful IRS lien.  

There was no time to try and negotiate liens or even pay them off for that matter (Foreclosure pending), so we did the unthinkable.... we bought the property subject to all the liens, yuck!  However, this did give us time to go out an try to negotiate the liens with the lienholders.  We were able to get some of them removed completely.  The IRS lien would not budge, and in fact was incredibly difficult to even pay.  The IRS just couldn't wrap it through their heads that we owned the property with the lien attached.  They just kept saying that the sale was illegal and they initially WOULDN'T EVEN TAKE OUR MONEY to pay the lien.  

On top of the lien drama, we had a squatter move into one of our houses and played the system.  That is another drama story that I don't have time to post, but if you want to read about squatters and how hard it is to get them evicted out of your house, we posted a page about it on our website to help out other investors going through the same situation.  http://www.tallytwoinvestmentgroup.com/eviction/

The final straw that made this deal nerve racking was the fact that in order to profit on it, we had to be able to divide up the 5 acres into 3 separate parcels.  No other investor would take this on...  

To sum up my point, the only reason this deal made sense was because we had to do several things out-of-the-box that a new investor (or even experienced investor) would not feel comfortable taking on because of the risks. We ended up tackling this project and it has become VERY PROFITABLE from a money standpoint, but also VERY TIME CONSUMING. However, the lessons we learned have been invaluable for any future projects that aren't your typical (70% ARV - repairs) that investors drool for.

@Jon Klaus , I'd be curious to know what speculative pockets you think might cool off a little?  Also be curious to hear what your thoughts are for any underpriced areas in Austin.  

I might have missed it in the conversation, but have you even approached the owner to see if he is willing to sell? That would be my first step if I were in your shoes. Feel free to give me a call if you have any local Austin questions. I also have access to the MLS.

Welcome @Brian Stevens to Bigger Pockets and also to Austin.  I would also recommend finding a couple local networking events so that you can meet some austin investors out there and see what they are doing.  I'll probably see you at a couple of them!