All Forum Posts by: Laurie Williamson

Adam, thank you. I think you're right. I'm going to go ahead and list it, and just reply via email/scheduling while I'm out. Then maybe I'll just lose the one week I'm out of town instead of these two.

Bruce, thanks for the insights. If I was going to be gone longer than a week, I probably would do that. Right now, it looks like I'll lose a week's rent to my vacation, but I would lose one month's rent (costing me one month's mortgage payment) if I hired a realtor. It would definitely be worth it if I was going to be gone a full month.

Theresa, thanks for the advice! I'm here for a week before I leave for vacation, so I think I'll list it for now to see if anyone wants to take a look this week. If it doesn't get much traction, I might take it down while I'm out of town, or keep it up and just schedule showings for the following week, when I'm back.

Thanks for the advice!

I just finished renovating a 3/2/2 house in Plano, TX and it's cleaned up and ready to list today (May 26) — but I'm only in town for 1 week, and then I'm going on vacation for a week, with two weekends tacked onto that. I am wondering if I should list it now, or wait until I get back in town. 

Pros of listing today:
- I would have five days available for in-person showings this week
- I could possibly get it rented sooner
- While I'm out of town, people could still look at the listing, and schedule showings for the following week
- I could hit the ground running when I get back, and get it going sooner
- $ 

Cons of listing today:

- After 5 days of availability, I'll be out of town for 9 days, and unable to physically show it until I get back. That might seem odd/annoying
- I would be dealing with calls and applications when I'm on vacation
- Having it listed too early might result in more days on market, which could make it look less appealing 

Apologies if this is a dumb question. This is only my second rental property, but I've never had to place a tenant myself. I used property management in the past, and have been self-managing for a long time, but no turnover that I had to manage. I'm leaning toward waiting til I get back, but just don't want to lose money. I've already paid the mortgage for June, and I'll be back in town June 9. I really want it rented by July 1 if at all possible, so I don't have to pay another month on the mortgage. Any advice appreciated! I'm using RentRedi for the listing.

Update! I ended up buying a house in Flower Mound. Spent $400,000, which was, uh, quite a bit over their asking price, and ended up being $19k over appraisal as well. I realize I am playing a part in housing prices going up, and the crazy bidding wars...but I did what I had to do. I had already made about six reasonable offers on other houses, and offers were not accepted. I will say that I like the house a lot and it cash flows. For reference to anyone looking in this area, the house was about 1600 SF and built in the 1980s. I was able to complete the 1031 exchange in time.

@Michael W. McCord Wow, I had not thought of it that way. Now that 400k is entry level (if you're lucky) locally, you're right—25% down is 100k! Nuts! When I bought my first rental house / investment just seven years ago, it was $122,000, and I put just $30,000 down. Fortunately, I was able to sell it for a lot more, and am putting all of that equity into my next investment with a 1031, but even with $191,000 available for a down payment, it looks like chump change next to the cash buyers who are plunking down $450,000+ ....on houses that I would still consider entry level!

I want to update this thread for anyone following it to get info on the local market. It is crazy!! I mean, I already kinda knew that, but it's one thing to search the MLS and crunch numbers in a spreadsheet, and another thing entirely to go out and look at houses with your Realtor, then make offers, and have your offers rejected. It has been a couple of weeks since my original post, and last weekend we went looking. I quickly realized that my goal of spending $300-$360k in Plano was trash. There is nothing out there that is actually at that price, in the 3/2/2, decent quality (not a total dog) category. Yes, there are properties listed for those prices, but they are lying. Some of the listings are purposefully listed quite a bit below market value, to attract a lot of offers, which I should have realized, but I didn't, until it was too late!

The nicest place I looked at was in Frisco, around 1800 square feet, with beautiful finishes—hardwood floor, granite, etc. It was listed for $375,000, which was higher than my price range, but I decided to offer on it. I offered $400,000. For some reason, the agent decided to spill the beans to all the other agents whose clients had offers. This is crazy. Get this, he said: 320 people came to look at that house over just that one weekend, and it got 52 offers. 30 people offered over $420,000. (That’s $45,000 over asking price.) 10 people offered over $450,000. (That’s $75,000 over asking price.) I never stood a chance on that house. Also, that means only 12 people, including me, offered less than $420,000. 

So I asked my Realtor to make an offer on another house, which was listed at $345,000. I looked at the comps, and one nearby, very similar, sold for $398,000. I offered $400,00 again, but this was for a lower-priced house, so that is $55,000 over asking. This agent shared that she got 26 offers, many that were "well above asking."

All in all, we looked at 8 houses, and I ended up making offers on 3 of them, but I didn't get anywhere. I am glad that I have this information, and that is what I am trying to think of this as, just information to help me make a better decision. However, the message I am getting from the houses in this market it... "You ain't buying me!"

@Michael W. McCord, that is interesting! Someone in our neighborhood recently moved and put their home up for rent, and it is probably a $750+ home... we were wondering who could afford to rent it! I did not really get it until I went out and started actually looking for houses to buy last weekend. It is nuts. If smaller homes are going for the sales prices they are, and renting for the #s I am seeing, it makes sense that the higher-end homes would go for a lot more. Glad you are finding success with your new SFR!

@Bruce Lynn, Thank you for the suggestion! I know those areas are really growing. I think you're absolutely right on those reasons why tenants aren't biting on some homes with more DOM. That is really helpful. My last property I said no pets, but they got a pet anyway, so I think that requirement may be futile. May try something different this time, like a pet deposit or just looking for a place with tile floors.