Converting Investors’ Rentals to Owner Finance Was the Best Decision Ever

Before the market crash, two of our biggest investors owned more than 100 rental properties. Like many investors, they once thought that owning rental properties was the only way to make money in real estate investing.

What they found was that they were often dealing with repair problems.  It didn’t matter that they had property managers. When you own 100 houses, you always have to deal with a repair, a late bill, a vacancy, paperwork and so on.

They also found it was hard to know what their cash flow on each house was each month. Writing checks for new water heaters and fridges gets old fast!

It was around 2009 that one of our investors’ mentors talked to them about switching to owner finance so they could retire with millions in real estate. That mentor only did owner finance homes.

Rather than being a landlord responsible for property upkeep and repairs, there are more efficient ways to generate monthly cash flow.

Be the Bank!

Think about your own house. Each month you send an electronic payment (or check) to your mortgage company or bank. Your bank doesn’t have to maintain the property – you do. Since you are buying the property from the bank on terms, it is natural to your benefit to maintain the property. The bank knows that statistically, homeowners are much more likely to keep their houses in good repair than renters. That’s what makes holding mortgage notes so attractive.

Our mentor taught our investors they could be the bank for people who do not have the credit history to qualify for a regular mortgage loan. The investor carries the loan on the distressed property for 30 years just like the bank, and the new owner of the house simply pays a mortgage payment each month that includes taxes and insurance.

The mentor said to our investors –  why should you spend $10s of thousands on rehabbing a property when you can have the end buyer do most of it? Owner finance investment property is smart.

The end buyer usually has a vested interest in maintaining their property, as they own it.

How a Typical Owner Finance Property Deal Looks:

$62,000 cash purchase, $10,000 rehab, 50 DOM, sold for $89,900 owner finance, $937 per month, 12.3% ROI.

This 3 BR 1.5 bath property investment with positive cash flow north of downtown San Antonio TX is in a heavily revitalizing area. It was bought by the investor for $62,000.

The under-market value property only needed approximately $10,000 of rehab, including new flooring, paint in and out, and minor foundation work.

The total project cost to the investor for this under-market value property was $72,000.

Within 50 days of the completion of rehab, it was sold with owner financing with the following terms:

  • $5000 down
  • $89,900 final price
  • 10% interest
  • 30 year note
  • $937/month PITI positive cash flow
  • Cap rate 12.3%

After our investors converted most of their under-market value properties to owner finance, most of of their worries about properties disappeared. The owner maintains it and the investors simply enjoy the monthly cash flow from each property into their bank accounts.

Most people don’t seem to ever consider owner financing their property investment, probably because they don’t know about it.

The keys to success in owner finance property are simple:

  • Carefully documenting the income of the potential buyer and verifying their work history
  • Follow the Dodd Frank law, which mandates that you must collect proof of their income and document their work history.
  • You can have a Texas licensed loan originator do this for you for a $750 or so fee (we have one on staff).

The bottom line on owner finance investment property is you enjoy cash flow without maintenance and the buyer enjoys buying their own home at last – a true win-win for everyone.

Make 15-16% ROI in San Antonio Investment Properties

The stock market is back on the way up, and could hit 20,000 in early 2017. Consumer confidence is also at a 10 year high, and many experts think that we are in line for a period of serious economic expansion.

Even though many investors are getting into the stock market, our top investors keep a lot of their money in under market value San Antonio investment properties. Many investors once put their money in the stock market and lost it in the 2001 or 2008 crashes. Generally, putting your capital into owner financed San Antonio properties or rental properties will do better over time.

If you buy your properties at the right price and in the right area, you can enjoy steady, long term returns of at least 10% per year. That is my goal: I want to make at least 10% per year on each buy and hold investment property. And if I can do better than that, well, that’s just gravy!

The good news for San Antonio buy and hold investors is that I am finding more properties in early 2017 that are allowing high returns in the area of 15%. That’s for two reasons:

  • I have found more under market value properties to put under contract in the $40,000 to $50,000 cash range. I have seen a bit of a dip in some prices in the homes that I buy. I don’t know if that will last, but in the last three months, I’ve seen more sub-$50k homes in my neighborhoods than I did for much of 2016.
  • I am generally recommending that my investors owner finance houses rather than rent them. The major reason is that construction costs have increased in the last two years. This is making $10,000 rehabs for rental properties cost $15,000 or more. If you owner finance the investment property, you can spend maybe $5000 on rehab, and leave the rest of the repairs to the end buyer, who usually is a blue-collar Hispanic family who can handle rehab work. Saving $5000 or so in rehab costs increases your ROI.

With some of the under market value properties I have found lately in 78210, 78201 and 78207, I have seen investors hit 15-16% ROI. And that is a long term return – most people cannot count on their stock market portfolio making a steady 15% ROI!

Again, I am perfectly happy as an investor to get 10-12% ROI; that type of return allowed me to financially retire early, but these days I am seeing 15%+ returns on some homes. So give it some thought as an alternative to investing in the volatile stock market. Here is a recent San Antonio fixer upper with 15%+ returns potentially:

back

  • Address: 1360 Essex St San Antonio, Texas 78210
  • Year Built: 1956
  • Description: San Antonio buy and hold investors – Another cash flow opportunity, 1360 Essex St San Antonio, Texas 78210, 3 beds 1 bath, 1002 square feet, lot size: .19 acres, subdivision: Denver Heights, 6K repairs, clean/lawn maintenance/interior paint, After Repair Value: 79K.
  • Cash Price on San Antonio Fixer Upper:  $45,000 CASH ONLY
  • Exit Strategy: Owner Finance with 6k in repairs: 5K down payment, $795.00 monthly PI/TI, 30 year amortization, 10% interest, Sales Price: $79,000.00, see attached comps.  NOTE: We recommend owner financing this investment property rather than renting; you will be able to save your cash outlays on the repairs by owner financing it rather than renting. Renting out this San Antonio investment property is possible, but at least another $10,000 of repairs will be needed. 

5 Reasons I Like Owner Finance Investment Properties Better Than Rental Investment Properties

I’m a 21 year expert in San Antonio investment properties, and for the first eight years, I mostly did rental investment properties. However, during the market crash of 2008, I converted most of my under market value properties to owner finance investment properties.

That was a great decision! Today I am a financially retired owner finance investment property owner ((San Antonio – one of the best cities to invest in real estate). I have found that owning owner finance investment properties is generally better than rental properties.

If you are not very familiar with owner financing properties, sorry! I’ll explain:

  • Some people want to buy a home rather than rent, but they lack the credit to get a traditional loan. One option the under market value property investor has is to ‘be the bank.’ That is, you the under market value property owner can write a mortgage yourself to your home’s occupant.
  • The same terms apply as when you get a mortgage from a bank. Payments are made over time with an interest charge, taxes and insurance must be escrowed.
  • In my under market value properties with owner financing, I charge 10% interest, 30 year term. My buyers may refinance when they like.

Here are some of the advantages of owner financing for the below market value property investor (pay attention, out of state investment property searchers!):

  1. Owner financed investment property can sell very quickly to your buyer. There is no bank involved, so after you do your due diligence on the buyer and get their down payment, you can go to closing right away. Once I have the buyers’ proof of income, I usually close on my owner finance investment properties in two weeks.
  2. Owner financed investment property has a very good rate of return because you have no maintenance costs.
  3. Owner finance investment property has a lot of peace of mind because I do not worry about what the next repair on the house will cost me.
  4. In Texas, owner finance investment property is easy to foreclose on. If the buyer defaults, I repossess the house in 60 days and resell it.
  5. Owner finance investment property is very attractive as an out of state investment property, because you are not a landlord. You just collect your monthly payment from your buyer electronically each month. It is great passive cash flow for the out of state investor.

The above advantages of owner finance investment property have made me quite wealthy at the young age of 38. I strongly advise all under market value property investors to consider owner financing instead of renting.

Now, if you are an out of state property investor, you might wonder, what would this mean for me? Well, let’s take a look at this San Antonio under market value property:

edison front

  • Address: 2229 W Hermosa Dr. San Antonio, TX 78201
  • Year Built: 1948
  • Description: Below market value property sale, 2 beds 1 bath, 769 sqft, lot size: .14 acres yearly taxes: estimated repairs: 35K (convert to 3 BR).
  • Max After Repair Value: $129,000.00.
  • Cash Price: $69,900.

Your cash outlay for this under market value investment property would be $105,000. The rate of return for an owner finance investment property here would be ~11%. Your monthly income would be $900 per month after you pay taxes and insurance.

You have no other expenses.

Meanwhile, if you rent this property, you will also net approximately $900 per month, but you will also have a property management fee of approximately $95 per month, plus repair expenses of $500 to $1000 per year. Your ROI will drop to approximately 10%.

Of course, some under market value property investors buy Texas investment properties to enjoy depreciation and writing off expenses for tax purposes, and there is nothing wrong with that! Personally, I prefer the pure passive cash flow from owner financing investment properties.