san antonio real estate investor – Page 2

March 15, 2016March 19, 2016

How to Flip a Wholesale Property in San Antonio and Get Hosed

I mostly buy and hold investment properties in San Antonio TX now, but I still flip houses for out of state property investors. Over the last 15 years, I’ve flipped several hundred houses, and I’ve made my share of mistakes.

Hopefully, you can learn from the mistakes I made years ago and make good returns on your San Antonio flip properties. The biggest thing to avoid is without question to not buy the wrong San Antonio flip property! Avoiding the bad flip deal is hugely important.

And here are some of the mistakes in more detail that will get you hosed in your San Antonio flip project:

#1 Getting Your ARV from Zillow

I run into quite a few rookie investors who think that you can get an accurate after repair value by using Zillow and other websites. Let me be clear: If you are getting your ARV from online research, just take a pile of cash and burn it, because you are going to get hosed on the San Antonio flip deal.

You MUST work with a very experienced real estate agent (who ideally is an investor) who knows the area well and can determine an accurate ARV.

I for example am a San Antonio real estate agent and also an expert San Antonio real estate investor. I know down to the dime what the ARV is on a San Antonio flip property or a San Antonio buy and hold property.

#2 Fudging the Numbers on the 70% Rule

The 70% rule works like this: Take your ARV (which I sure hope is accurate!) and multiply it times .70. So, if the ARV is $100,000, multiply that times .70. That’s $70,000. Now, subtract your repairs (another area where you really have to know what you’re doing to make a San Antonio property flip work).

Say, the repairs are $20,000. So, you subtract that from $70,000. You now know approximately the maximum amount you can pay for that San Antonio flip property.

Some rookie investors will fudge the numbers here because they fall in love with a deal. Never do that. Be ruthless and disciplined when determining the maximum amount you can pay. Your profits depend on it.

#3 You Buy the San Antonio Flip Property with No Exit Strategy

As I said above, I usually buy and hold San Antonio properties long term now – with owner financing. It is, however, a good idea to have a couple of exit strategies in mind if something goes amiss.

For example, you could rehab the San Antonio wholesale property and not find a buyer for 6 months. It has happened even to me. In that case, you need to go to plan B, which for me is to rent out the property section 8. That’s a good go-to, back up option for San Antonio distressed properties.

#4 Doing a Flip Deal with No Team

How many out of state investment property investors get into real estate investing on the side with no experienced team to rely on? What a disaster. You are almost certain to get hosed in San Antonio real estate investing.

To make a successful San Antonio flip, you need to have the following:

An expert real estate agent/investor
An experienced rehab crew
Hard money lender (working with an experienced investor will be easier because he will have done a lot of deals with many HMLs in the area)
Real estate attorney
Title company

I have a San Antonio buy and hold and property flip team that I have worked with for 10 years.

#5 Flipping With Your Last $10,000 or $20,000

Sure you can risk it all and hit it big, but you also can get totally hosed. You should not do a San Antonio property flip with money that you absolutely have to have back in 90 days or the world will end.

For your first property flip in San Antonio, you can use a hard money lender to fund a good deal of the deal. You still will need maybe $10,000 or $20,000 of your own money. Make sure you can afford to have that money tied up for a few months! If you can’t, I’d wait to do a flip until you can.

#6 Doing the Rehab on Your Own

I usually maximize my profits on my buy and holds and flips because I know a lot about construction after 15 years. Many rookies lose their butts and get hosed on rehab. Do not do the rehab on your own unless you have YEARS of construction experience in similar projects, and you have the time to devote to the flip project.

#7 Never Doing a Deal

After all this gloom and doom about failing in flipping a house, the worst is really to never do a deal because you are afraid. You just need to do plenty of prep work and studying and networking to prepare to do your flip deal. Study the numbers, learn construction, assemble a good team, and when the time comes, do the deal!

If you are interested in doing a San Antonio property flip and are nervous, I’m happy to work with new investors with capital. I’ll show you exactly how I do it to make a $15,000 or $20,000 return in 60-80 days.

March 14, 2016March 19, 2016

Should I Flip This Wholesale Property or Buy and Hold It?

I currently own in cash several dozen buy and hold San Antonio investment properties. While I do believe that long term buy and hold investing with owner financing or renting is the best way to build real estate cash flow, there also is a place for flipping properties.

When I first began in San Antonio wholesale property in 2001-2, I only had about $70,000 cash. That was enough to buy a couple of under market value San Antonio properties. After that I didn’t have any more capital.

So what I did next was place an ad in the local San Antonio newspaper and I found an under market value property investor who loaned me $2 million over the next two years. Our strategy was to fix and flip, and we split the profits on each deal 50/50.

But Should You Do a San Antonio Flip Property or Buy and Hold?

I believe there is room in San Antonio real estate investing to do both. Below is one of my wholesale properties that will work well as a flip or a buy and hold:

Address: 1723 W Ashby Pl San Antonio, TX 78201,
Year Built: 1925
Description: Under market value property, investors dream north of downtown, 3 beds 1 bath, 1000 sqft, built: 1925, lot size: .19 acres, yearly taxes: $1,700.00, estimated yearly insurance: $800.00; estimated repairs: 35K, includes new HVAC, updated kitchen/bath, flooring, paint in/out, exterior skirt, appliances, plumbing/electric up to code, paint out door storage exterior, trash, lawn maintenance.
Max After Repair Value: $129,000.00
Cash Price: $69,900 firm.
Exit Strategy: Owner Finance with 35K repairs: 5-10k down or more, $1,295.00 monthly P/I, 30 year amortization, 10% interest. Or 15K rehab, new HVAC, paint in/out, kitchen/bath repairs, plumbing/electric up to code, then FSBO at 109K, 10% interest, $1,100 monthly PI/TI, 30 year amortization.
Alternate Exit Strategy: Flip with $35k in repairs for a ~$25,000 profit. Rehab completed in 45 days or less.

If you buy and hold this San Antonio turnkey property, you will make 13% ROI per year on a total cash outlay of $105,000. You also could buy this property with 20% conventional finance, and pay a mortgage of approximately $500-600 per month. Positive cash flow would be $950 to $1000 if you buy cash, and about $500 per month with the mortgage. Getting financing with a property such as this in San Antonio is pretty easy if you have decent credit and assets.

OR, you could flip this house for a $20-25k profit. Your profit margin will depend upon if you use hard money to do the project. I prefer doing my flips in all cash as you will save $3-4k in fees and interest payments.

It can take longer to resell the flip retail than it can take to owner finance it or rent it with a buy and hold investment. So that is something to remember.

Of course, some houses work better as buy and hold investments and some are better as flips. It depends on the size of the home, location, number of bedrooms and more when you buy as a San Antonio real estate investor.

Overall, the strategy I tell most investors with limited capital is to do 3-4 flips, and then take the capital and do a buy and hold investment with owner financing. That way you are combining the best of both worlds with your out of state investment property investing.

March 13, 2016March 19, 2016

Case Study 1622 Alametos 78201

This distressed property sale was completed in August 2015 by my San Antonio real estate investor. The market in San Antonio TX has changed greatly in the last year. The market is booming and prices are up across the board, even in fixer upper homes.

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 investor bought this San Antonio wholesale property cash, and we completed $10,000 in repairs in 3 weeks:

$65,000 cash price
$1500 carpet removal and adding wood vinyl in 3 bedrooms
$3500 HVAC
$750 for third bedroom conversion.
$750 for dumpster – clean out
$1500 two tone interior paint
$500 update five light fixtures
$1500 level front bedroom
$1500 closing costs

Total Investment: $76,500

Repairs were complete on July 31, 2015 and property was put on MLS. By Aug. 3, we had two full owner finance, price offers as follows:

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

Investor’s total monthly income after taxes/insurance is $825.

Final ROI: 12.9%

Interested in earning 12-13% ROI with no property management expenses in San Antonio real estate investing? Contact us now.

After Rehab Additional Pictures:

March 10, 2016May 29, 2021

Why Our Investors Still Buy In San Antonio

I advertise a lot online and on Craig’s List to find new cash buyers out of state for our San Antonio investment properties and San Antonio turnkey properties.

I want out of state property investors to know they are dealing with a serious San Antonio real estate investor and operator in me. I know what I am doing and I have a long track record that proves it.

Sometimes, however, I get silly responses from some of my ads from negative, bitter types who don’t like my San Antonio real estate investing. Usually they are failed real estate investors, in my experience, and they’re jaded and cynical. Here’s the most common silly email I get:

Negative Type: ‘If you’re so rich, why don’t you just buy the house yourself?’

Me: ‘Bye.’

I do not waste my time debating with negative people. But here is the answer to that question: I buy houses in cash every month that I do not find a buyer for 🙂. If the contract is about to expire, I buy it cash and hold onto the property. I raise the price by $5000 and I look for another investor to sell it to. I find one eventually.

Example: This below under market value San Antonio turnkey property was for sale for $55,000:

Address: 262 Bogle St. San Antonio, TX 78207-7471
Year Built: 1946
Description: Under market value cash flow investment, excellent back yard, well established neighborhood, 4 bedrooms, 2 bath, 1236 sqft, lot size: .16 acres, estimated yearly taxes: $2,000.00, estimated yearly insurance: $700, estimated repairs: 25K includes paint in/out, new HVAC, flooring, foundation, update kitchen/baths, etc.
ARV: $99,900.
Cash Price: $55,000.

I did not find a buyer for the Texas turnkey property in time. So I bought the San Antonio wholesale property myself – cash – and a month later I sold it for $65,000 to an investor who used hard money. I made $10,000 on the house that no one wanted :).

I do that about once per month. But there are other reasons I still buy and sell wholesale properties in San Antonio: Because I love it! Most successful entrepreneurs never retire.

My real estate mission also is to transform San Antonio neighborhoods and clean up the city; a lot of progress has been made and I am proud of the part I have had in that. But to make more progress, we need out of state property investors to bring in more capital.

That is why I continue to advertise for out of state property investors in San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Diego and Las Vegas, among other places. Those are good places to sell Texas turnkey properties.

My last word on this subject to the negative types is this: Your chances of real estate investing success are much lower if you have a bad attitude. Wise up.

March 4, 2016March 19, 2016

How I Have Succeeded As I Property Wholesaler In San Antonio

I have been wholesaling and investing in under market value properties in San Antonio since 2001. I have been very successful because I have avoided some of the most common mistakes that many San Antonio property wholesalers make:

Having no emergency cash: I have been successful enough with San Antonio investment properties that I have plenty of cash when I need it. The problem that some beginning wholesalers have is that they don’t have much money. It’s nice to be able to wholesale properties because you don’t always need to have a lot of capital to make money. However, if you do not get the house sold, you have to buy the house. In my case, I am able to buy the house myself if it does not sell, and then I usually mark it up and make at least $5000 when I sell it eventually.
Not having a good buyer’s list: Many wholesalers in San Antonio real estate investing struggle to develop a good buyer’s list because it’s hard to find cash buyers. It takes a lot of work and networking. You should never wait until the property is under contract until you find cash buyers. Finding cash buyers is an ongoing process that you should always be doing. I am always looking for cash buyers everywhere I go, and I also market heavily on Craigslist and through my website for cash buyers. I have found many good out of state investment property investors this way.
Remember the needs of the buyers. It is easy to get too focused on your assignment fee as a San Antonio real estate investor. If the price of the house is too high, the end buyer may feel there is no money to be made. I am very good at negotiating a low price and getting the rehab numbers very close to reality. I also can recommend one of my excellent, inexpensive crews to rehab the San Antonio wholesale property to make sure that the investor is happy with his profit.
Check the house carefully. Either pay to have it inspected or be really good at inspecting houses yourself. If you end up putting a house under contract with very expensive, unknown problems, you could end up losing your rear.
Paying too high a price: Buying and selling under market value properties is fun and it is easy to lose track of the bottom line. If you pay too much money, you will never be able to turn a profit.
Crunch numbers: Before you buy or put a wholesale property under contract, you have to know that it is worth it. I am now a real estate agent so I am able to run my own comps and determine my ARV. So, you figure 70% of the ARV, minus your profit, and that is the highest price you can pay. Do not pay more than that or you will lose money.
Bad pricing: If you do not get any offers on your property after a month, you may have priced it too high.

By avoiding those common problems with San Antonio wholesale property, I have been very successful in my investing career.