San Antonio Housing Market Still Booming in September 2017

Home sales continue to climb in San Antonio and are staying on track for another strong, record-breaking year even though there are fewer homes available on the market.

In August, there were nearly 3,000 homes sold in San Antonio, for a 2.3% increase from 2016. The total number of homes sold for 2017 are 20,867, which is 4.3% above last year at this time. Experts believe that the market is going to break the previous record when almost 30,000 homes were sold in a year.

The median home price in San Antonio is up 3.1% in August to $218,400. This is the fourth highest median price ever in the San Antonio market. Local home prices are shooting higher as there is a shortage of construction workers and more housing demand caused by the growing population in San Antonio.

It is true that housing prices are going up in San Antonio. Still, we are finding plenty of under market value, San Antonio investment properties available for our investors’ portfolios. Blue collar workers flocking to San Antonio for jobs need houses to buy with owner financing or to rent, so our business is still doing well.

San Antonio generally is still a good place to invest in under market value, high ROI investment properties, even if prices are higher than 2010. The strong, growing population and low unemployment rate indicate that this is a growing, robust economy with little signs of slowing down.

We also are seeing more accredited and non-accredited investors with solo 401ks and self directed IRAs buying investment properties in San Antonio for their portfolios.  Below is a great under market value property that will see major appreciation in the next five years.

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Potential more than 40K in profit on this investment. 1614 Alametos, San Antonio, Texas 78201. Excellent location, just north of downtown with a short distance to the river walk and the new San Pedro creek river walk extension (multi-billion dollar inner city revitalization project).

Properties in this location are expected to appreciate by more than 50% in value over the next two to three years. 1614 Alametos has a large back yard with shady trees. Currently the property is set-up as 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom with a large patio in the back of the house. To get the maximum value out of this property and location, another bedroom and bathroom should be added. Estimated repairs: $65K with purchase price: $69K. Max After Repair Value: $199K.

Note: 1622 Alametos just down the street was sold to an investor in 2015 for $65,000. With $15,000 of rehab, the property was sold for $99,000 with owner financing for a 13% ROI. Home was sold within one week.

Price: $69,000

Exit Strategy: Buy, Rehab and Hold this San Antonio investment property.

How an Investor Can Make 13% ROI in Their 401 or IRA Retirement Portfolio

Many people today are worried about saving enough money for retirement. If you are going to rely on the stock market to ensure that you can live comfortably in 10, 20 or 30 years, I understand why you may be nervous. While the historical returns of the stock market may be in the 8% range, there is no doubt that some years, the return is much less. If you are planning to retire in a few years and the market dives, you may find yourself not retiring at all.

We know someone who planned to retire in 2007 and live comfortably. After the market crashed, he had to go back to work for another five years.

The good news is that you can make a reliable 10% or even 15% ROI per year if you purchase under market value real estate investments. Many of our investors have made a fortune with San Antonio investment properties over the years.

A popular way to make money for retirement today is to invest in under market value real estate in San Antonio in a solo 401k or self directed IRA. These funds can grow tax deferred over time, and you can often make an excellent rate of return.

Even after you technically retire, you still can invest in under market value real estate and enjoy cash flow. It may not be tax deferred any more, but you can still enjoy positive cash flow. Meanwhile, your friends and relatives are living off their retirement savings accounts based upon the stock market, which frequently dwindle over time.

Below is a great example of what you can do with an under market value investment property with a solo 401k or self directed IRA.

new front
$65,000 cash price, $15,000 rehab, resold for $99,900 owner finance, $1041 per month, 7 DOM, 12.9% ROI.

Still, we have CA investors coming into our fine city and buying property investment homes and making 12-13% ROI annually, with no property maintenance.

This San Antonio investment property was purchased by a CA cash buyer in July 2015 at 1622 Alametos St. This house is in 78201, and is north of downtown. This region is seeing rapid growth and appreciation.

The bottom line on this property was with only $10,000 of rehab, it was sold with owner financing at $99,900 in only a week after it was rehabbed. Here are the numbers:

  • $1041 per month
  • 30 year note
  • 10% interest rate
  • $5000 down payment
  • $99,900 final price
  • $216/mo. taxes/insurance

The total return on this San Antonio investment property was 13% per year.  That money is being returned to the investor’s solo 401k account each month, and he will use that money to eventually invest in more San Antonio investment properties.

This is what you can do with investing in real estate properties from within a solo 401k or self-directed IRA. Whether you are an accredited investor or a non accredited investor, this can be a great financial move.

Now Is a Great Time for Cash Flow AND Appreciation in San Antonio

When some of our investors started putting money into under market value properties in San Antonio, we saw appreciation in the range of 2-3% or maybe 5% per year maximum.

But that was more than 15 years ago since we started to invest here. Today, we see more possibilities to both enjoy appreciation AND cash flow on under market value fixer uppers in San Antonio.

Today, there is a general affordable housing shortage in San Antonio. It is harder for lower income renters and home buyers to find places to live. This is creating real opportunities for real estate investors in Texas. Also, we are seeing major investment into San Antonio in the downtown area. This is coming from the state and city government, and also out of state and even out of country investors.

For example, the Pearl Brewery off of 281 near downtown was a real hellhole in 2008. It was abandoned, run down and not somewhere you would either want to live or invest. However, an outside investor poured nearly a billion dollars into the Pearl Brewery complex. Today, it is the second hottest tourist attraction in San Antonio, after the downtown Riverwalk. It is full of nice hotels, chic restaurants, and bars, and is a general great hangout spot for San Antonians and tourists alike. Very expensive townhomes of $500,000 and up also are being built around the Pearl complex.

There is plenty of other development occurring in San Antonio that is leading to good appreciation and cash flow potential for affordable home investors. For example, the area north of downtown, not far from the Riverwalk, is also near the new San Pedro creek extension. The city is pouring billions of dollars into this area. Properties located in this region are believed to be poised for appreciation of 50% or more in the next three years.

We have a property at 1614 Alametos 78201 that will return the investor at least $900 per month in rent, and with a potential ARV of $199,000. That is some serious appreciation for a home that is worth $69,000 today.

We also had a property on 1622 Alametos that we sold in 2015 for $65,000. The investor put $15,000 into it, and sold it with owner financing for $99,000. Today, that home is easily worth $115,000.

So, we recommend buying certain homes in San Antonio today in areas where the city is investing money. You should see substantial appreciation and good cash flow.

Homes in Southern California See Near All-Time Price Highs

Southern California home sales dropped 5% in May 2017, yet home prices have still hit a record high in that areas.

According to recent real estate research in California, approximately 8.5% fewer homes were sold in Los Angeles County since March 2017, but home prices are still at a near-record high average of $485,000. This is almost as high as the all-time high of $500,000 in 2007.

Southern California is hardly the only part of the state where real estate prices are testing the ability of workers, families and real estate investors to afford homes. Prices in May 2017 in California hit a record high in Orange County, California, and San Diego County, California.

Also, Forbes reports that the San Francisco, California area is seeing soaring median home prices. Around San Jose, Sunnyvale, and Santa Clara, the median home price topped $1 million in the first quarter of 2017. It was just $535,000 a year ago.

Why the Rise in Home Prices in California? 

The biggest reason this is happening is not enough homes are being built in much of California’s major metro areas to meet booming demand. This is because it is harder to get building permits in much of California.

On the other hand, Texas has a very liberal policy on building new homes. Both states feature cities with high job growth; San Francisco and Oakland added 356,000 new jobs in 2016, and in Dallas, there wee 413,000 new jobs added in the same period. But in San Francisco, only 20,400 new homes were built, and there were 120,000 new ones built in Dallas.

This difference in building permit policy has had various effects. Homeowners in Calfornia are enjoying huge increased in property values, which is great for them to pull out cash and invest in real estate. But for people who want to buy, it is extremely difficult to buy in current circumstances. Many home buyers and real estate investors are priced out of the market.

In areas such as San Antonio, Texas, prices only have doubled in the last 20 years or so, but many more people can afford to buy a home for themselves or for real estate investments.

As home prices in California have soared, we have seen increasing demand for under market value real estate investments in San Antonio. Investors want to see high-ROI investment opportunities in Texas. Many affordable homes are available in San Antonio for under $60,000 wholesale. With $20,000 in rehab, the home can be rented for $800 per month. That is the type of positive cash flow that many California real estate investors want to see.

 

Strong Demand for Affordable Rental Properties Should Attract New San Antonio Investors

As the economic recovery gathers steam, many real estate investors in Texas are finding that there is even stronger demand today for affordable rental properties than a few years ago.

The San Antonio economy is doing well with low unemployment rates, rising wages and a growing population.  But there are signs that the prices of new and existing homes in San Antonio are taxing the budgets of middle-class families. Many of them have good incomes, but may not be able to afford rising home prices and down payments.

Last month, the National Association of Realtors stated that the sales of existing homes in San Antonio dropped 2.3% in April 2017. Prices have continued to surge, and sometimes multiple offers are coming in on some affordable homes.

The increase in prices in the last few years of existing homes has somewhat exceeded the rise in wages. So, how is this good news for investors?

Well, investors interested in buy and hold properties and high ROI investment properties in Texas should strongly focus on rehabbing under market value properties and renting them out.

There are plenty of San Antonio families who have enough cash to pay for a rental deposit and $1000 per month in rent, but lack the down payment or income to qualify for a mortgage. In our owner finance market, we are seeing many people who have the income to afford the mortgage payment, but simply lack the cash for the down payment.

This means there is a serious opportunity for the rental property buy and hold investor. Also, with San Antonio properties increasing substantially in value, the buy and hold rental property investor will have a serious chance to increase their equity.

Here is a really nice buy and hold rental property deal I am featuring:

Address: 106 and 110 Dewitt, San Antonio Texas, 78210

Description: Location Location, just south of downtown, short distance to the river walk and the new San Pedro creek river walk extension project (multi-billion dollar inner city revitalization): properties are going to double in value in the next 5 years. Both homes need to be converted into 3 beds 1 bath: estimated repairs for both projects: 80K-40K each, purchase price for both investments: 80K, Max After Repair Value: 119K each or 230K for both, Package deal.

Price: $80,000 cash

Exit Strategy: I recommend buy/remodel/rent then resale in 5 years

The under market value San Antonio investor can buy both for $80k and rehab each one for $40k each. You should be able to rent each property for more than $1000 each. And the increase in equity due to their location will make this a very high ROI investment opportunity.

 

 

San Antonio Investors Buying Up Properties At Rapid Pace

Out of state real estate investors recently bought up several multifamily complexes that are worth more than $150 million. This was one small part of a large surge in real estate investing in San Antonio.

Sherman Residential was the company that bought the 385 unit Pecos Flats apartment complex on the west side in early May.  Sherman decided to come back to the San Antonio market after it left during the down turn in 2007.

Sherman noted that it always like San Antonio for high ROI investment opportunities, but it believes San Antonio is an even better investment today. It stated that San Antonio now has a more diverse employment base and strong population and job growth.

Investment brokers in San Antonio agree; some say that its strong population and employment growth in a range of industries are attracting many more real estate investors.

Many real estate investors are choosing large markets with strong employment growth and relatively low cost of living because they are thought to be more steady and less subject to a boom/bust cycle.

Brokers say that San Antonio is viewed in many quarters as recession proof, and with plenty of economic diversity, this area is a good bet in both bull and bear real estate markets.

San Antonio’s real estate market has experienced strong growth for the last five years, but there are signs that it may be cooling a bit. This can be a good opportunity for under market value real estate investors to pick up deals.

In April 2017, 2427 homes were sold in the San Antonio metro area. This was a decline of 2.2% from a year ago. That was only the third month since early 2011 that sales went down. As of May 2017, 8592 homes were sold in the city, with 8408 sold at this time last year.

The median home price went up by 8.4% in 2017 to $215,000.

Overall, the San Antonio market is a great bet for under market value investors seeking high ROI investment opportunities in 2017. A strong but not explosive real estate market will lead to plenty of good opportunities for investors who know where to look,

Building Real Estate Wealth – Watch Out for This Expensive TAX TRAP!

If you plan on using financing to help your IRA to acquire real estate you have walked smack dab into one ugly tax trap under the name of “Debt Financed Income”. Financing or as the tax law refers to it as “leverage” refers to obtaining a Mortgage, seller carry-back note, a private or hard money loan.

Normally income earned by an IRA is not subject to taxes, however, if real estate is purchased with borrowed funds, the income will be considered “Debt Financed Income” and the profits generated will be subject to “Unrelated Business Income Tax (UBIT).

Huh?

The simplest explanation is, that the IRA is using non-IRA money to make tax deferred profits. Since the purpose of the IRA is to invest personal pre-tax contributions the use of non-IRA funds falls outside this design and results in a percentage of profits being taxed at trust tax rates in the calendar year when the profits are realized.

Here is an example, if your IRA purchased a property for $100,000, and financed $60,000 of the purchase price, the debt/basis percentage would be 60%, and so the IRA would have to include 60% of the profits as taxable income.

Lets say your profit on the sale of this single family house was $50,000 x 60% (debt basis) then $30,000 is considered “Debt Financed Income” and is subject to  “Unrelated Business Income Tax” which is assessed at trust tax rates – in this case up to 39.6% which amounts to a kick in the gut tax hit totaling $10,238.00

Oh by the way, if you think you can dodge the bullet because you are going to rent the house, think again. The net profits from your rent roll are also subject UBIT each and every year– Yikes!

Wouldn’t is be great if “Unrelated Business Income Tax” could simply disappear?

This is where choosing the right type of plan makes all the difference in the world.

A One-Participant 401k plan is NOT subject to UBIT as long as the financing is non-recourse to you personally. Congress actually created a special tax code exemption for Qualified Pension Plans (401k’s) that removes them from the profit sucking UBIT vacuum an IRA cannot escape.

Choose a One-Participant 401k plan and you can gorge yourself on all the financing you want to and invest in high ROI real estate properties for wealth building. Under market value real estate investments are a great way to build wealth, and the solo 401k is the way to do it.

  DAVID COLE
ph:  928-350-8368
fax:  928-318-6695
website:  www.freedomfirst401k.com

Building Wealth In Real Estate Investing with a Solo 401k

One of the major purposes of investing in real estate in San Antonio and other places is to build wealth slowly over time. One of the most important ways to do so is to invest in high ROI real estate investments that are protected from US taxes.

Many real estate investors automatically decide to invest in real estate with a self directed IRA, which is a perfectly good way to invest. But there are other options that are worth considering; in fact, a solo 401k can often be superior to an IRA for investing in real estate. But most people are not aware that a solo 401k can be created by a private individual to invest in almost anything, including real estate.

Here are some things to know about the solo 401k:

  • It is a one participant 401k plan, and is just like a traditional 401k plan but it just covers one ‘worker’ – you.
  • Unlike an IRA, you can contribute up to $60,000 each year
  • A solo 401k plan has an employee and profit sharing option but a traditional IRA has a low annual contribution limit. For those over 50, you can make a maximum contribution of $24,000 in a 401k and that can be pre tax or after tax.
  • A solo 401k may be contributed to in either Roth or pre tax format, but a self directed IRA may only be made in pre-tax.
  • Tax free loans: A solo 401k allows you to borrow $50,000 or 50% of the account value. You can use the loan for whatever you want. A self directed IRA cannot be used to borrow funds without it being a prohibited transaction.
  • You can open your 401k at many banks yourself. But with a self directed IRA, you have to use a custodian to hold the funds.
  • You do not need to make an LLC with a 401k. The plan itself may invest in real estate investments without an LLC. A 401k plan by definition is a trust, and the trustee may take title to real estate property without an LLC being formed (another expense).
  • Much better protection from creditors: A solo 401k is a fortress against lawsuits and creditors. It offers far better protections than an IRA. The 2005 Bankruptcy Act will normally protect all 401k assets in a bankruptyc. Most states also have more creditor protection in a solo 401k than a self directed IRA – outside of Chapter 7, 11, or 13 bankruptcy.

Once you have established a solo 401k, you only need to decide which under market value real estate investments that you are going to invest in.

Seize Control of Your Own Wealth Management Now!

We’re living in a very exciting time and savvy investors are wasting no time in putting their retirement plans to work to capture juicy real estate investment returns. People everywhere realize that the real estate opportunities available right now will most likely never be repeated again during their lifetime.

Is your retirement nest egg still sitting there at the mercy of the stock market? A market which can drop like a lead balloon at the mere mention of a negative rumor. Perhaps it is time to rethink your retirement plan investing options?

Most people hold their retirement savings in traditional and widely-known vehicles such as; company-sponsored 401k plans, online IRA brokerage accounts and the like. But these are the same vehicles that have people up in arms due to the gut wrenching losses they have experienced.

You see, most “traditional” retirement plans only offer limited selections that are based in the equities markets. Problem is, these investments are driven by and subject to whatever impacts Wall Street and lately that has been just about everything.

Maybe you were among the millions of people who were pummeled in 2016 by two major corrections that resulted in $3 Trillion dollars evaporating overnight. How many people saw their retirement dreams go up in smoke in less than 24 hours? If you are sick and tired of the roller coaster ride on Wall Street then perhaps it’s time you explored so called, non-traditional investing.

Wall Street lives by two iron clad rules. Get CONTROL of your money and keep CONTROL of your money – anything else is unacceptable to them. They have absolutely no interest in helping educate you that they are NOT the only game in town.

A Self-Directed Retirement Plan = Freedom of Choice!

Self-directed retirement plans can help you break free of the investment restrictions your current custodian places on you. By utilizing a self-directed plan, a whole world of alternative investments opens up.

It’s not difficult to transfer your money over to a self-directed custodian. Your custodian of choice will walk you through the process of transferring assets into your self-directed plan and will also provide you with guidance on what you can and cannot invest in with your new retirement account.

Just what types of real estate investments open up to you with a self-directed retirement plan?

Here is a just a partial list of idea starters-

  • Raw land
  • Residential homes
  • Commercial property
  • Apartments
  • Duplexes
  • Condos/townhomes
  • Mobile homes
  • Real estate notes
  • Real estate purchase options
  • Self-storage units
  • Tax liens certificates
  • Tax deeds

All of these investments and more are available when you have a self-directed retirement plan! Take control of your own wealth management!

I have no doubt your curiosity has been piqued by this brief article – stay tuned as the next series of articles will pull back the curtains revealing even more about the secret that Wall Street hopes you’ll never discover.

  DAVID COLE
ph:  928-350-8368
fax:  928-318-6695
website:  www.freedomfirst401k.com

FREE IRA book: http://freedomfirst401k.com/self-directed-ira-guide/

Reserve your personal consultation: http://meetme.so/davidcole

How an Owner Financed Deal Works In San Antonio

Most of our investors’ real estate investment portfolios in San Antonio are in owner financed properties. Rather than rent the properties out, they do an owner financed note to a qualified buyer.

Many real estate investors are not familiar with how an owner financed deal works, so we thought we would lay out the process:

First, we find an under market value investment property in San Antonio in a revitalizing and growing area near downtown. A good example is this dual property in an area that is seeing major reinvestment by the city:

Address: 106 and 110 Dewitt, San Antonio Texas, 78210

Description: Location Location, just south of downtown, short distance to the river walk and the new San Pedro creek river walk extension project (multi-billion dollar inner city revitalization): properties are going to double in value in the next 5 years. Both homes need to be converted into 3 beds 1 bath: estimated repairs for both projects: 80K-40K each, purchase price for both investments: 80K, Max After Repair Value: 119K each or 230K for both, Package deal.

Price: $80,000 cash

After we do a $3k-10k clean up and repair of the property, we find a good, qualified buyer with steady work, income and at least $5000 down payment. We execute a promissary note with the buyer of the San Antonio property. We typically charge 9% or 10% interest, a 30 year repayment schedule (fully amoratizing), no prepayment penalty, and consequences for default.

The buyer then sends us his monthly mortgage payments either by check or electronic deposit (I have a special Chase account set up for this purpose). We earn a very good ROI in the range of 10-15% per year, and the property is maintained by the end buyer.

We tend to hold notes for the long term, and do not usually sell them.

Seller financed deals sometimes are for the short term while the buyer gets their credit cleaned up and refinances. In San Antonio, few of our blue collar end buyers end up refinancing. We get long term cash flow with no repair headaches. I also can save thousands in rehab costs because we generally only do a light clean up of the property. The same property if rented would need far more in repairs.

Why don’t more investors consider owner financing their properties? We think many investors simply are not familiar with the process. Many new investors think investment properties must always be rented. Not so.

Another reason we think is that real estate investors may want to pull  cash out of their investment properties to do more deals later. You can’t do that with an owner financed property. But you can sell the note on the property if you choose to do so and get cash for more deals.

Last, we think that people don’t realize that you can buy properties with a mortgage and then do an owner financed deal to the end buyer. This is known as a wrap around mortgage, and can be a really great way to make good cash flow, conserve cash for more deals, and eliminate investor worry about repairing properties.