What’s your house-hack buy box?

It's typically best to figure out one route to go and dial in your buy box, it makes underwriting deals easier and not getting distracted by the numerous ways to invest in real estate.

Out of the gate, I would encourage you to give some thought to the Buy Box. 

I’m seeing a mix of:• Entry-level value-add SFRs in South Austin• Heavy fixer flips with good spreads• Small infill lots that builders like• Occasional higher-end fixers in West Austin• A few lower-priced opportunities outside the cityCurious what everyone else is targeting right now.What’s your current buy box?

Categorize All Income and ExpensesAvoid the “shoe box in February” scenario.

Segment your buyer list by buy box and only blast to those who actually buy that product.

Also though they refuse to box themselves in, because we’re not meant to be small!

Large lots, green space for a play area, large sheds for extra storage, an outbuilding with a full size washer and dryer, ample room to park a couple cars at each lot, fenced, street lamps at each lot, gated entry for security and privacy, community mail box, etc. etc. 

If you want to compare areas, build a buy box, or start getting deal options, feel free to reach out.

Over the years, I’ve noticed something interesting working with investors:The biggest tax mistakes usually don’t come from shady strategies or bad CPAs…They come from poor recordkeeping and timing.Here’s what I mean A lot of investors don’t track which expenses are repairs (deduct now) and which are improvements (depreciate later).They toss all the receipts into a box or an app and hope it sorts itself out in March.Then when tax season hits, they realize half of those costs could’ve been handled differently — maybe deducted sooner or even structured better if they’d planned a few months ahead.The IRS doesn’t just care what you spent… it cares how you report it.