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How $29,900 ‘Junk,’ Under Market Value Properties Can Make You Wealthy

I buy and sell wholesale properties in San Antonio TX every week that most investors say I should have just torn down. ‘Why would anybody buy an out of state investment property that looks like THAT?’

LOL! I have made millions of dollars in my 15 year, under market value property investing career, and most of it was on cheap, ‘junk’ houses selling for well below market value. Ugly houses that typical investors run screaming from.

I own dozens of previously ‘junk’ houses that I bought under market value that looked very rough, such as the distressed property you see below for real estate cash flow.

Take a hard look at that photo. Does that photo make you want to run away and hide? If so, sorry, but you are making a serious mistake. You can purchase under market value properties just like that one for $29,900. Then, you do not rent it.

No. Instead, you owner finance it to a blue collar, hard working buyer that we qualify for you. As long as the buyer can prove they are working steadily and have $5000 down payment, they can buy this house.

Here is where it gets even better for the below market value property investor: You can often sell a house such as the one below AS IS to an owner finance buyer. You might spend $1000 or $2000 to clean it up, but other than that, you often can sell the house as is.

Front
I just sold this house with NO REPAIRS with owner financing in Jan. 2016, $500 per month, $5000 down.

So, if you buy ‘junk’ houses such as the one below for $29,900 and do no repairs, and then owner finance it for about $49,900, $500 per month. You can enjoy at least 12% ROI and never do any repairs! Not bad for excellent real estate cash flow.

Or, do $30k in rehab and resell it for $5000 down, $895 per month, $89,900 final price.

Either way, you are making an outstanding rate of return on an under market value investment property that most investors foolishly avoid.

If you want to get really wealthy with an out of state investment property, buy a dozen or more of these little, ‘junk’ distressed, San Antonio investment properties and owner finance them as I did. You will get $500 to $600 per month on each if you do no repairs, or $800 to $900 per month if you do the rehab. It’s up to you!

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  • Address: 228 Yucca, San Antonio, Texas 78207
  • Year Built: 1950
  • Description: Booming San Antonio Market, very popular location west of downtown, this is a 2/1 that has a lot of potential, perfect for a young family. This is a great location and wholesale property, only a few minutes west of downtown and the Riverwalk. Property sits on a beautiful large lot, plenty of room for growth or a wonderful playground and garden.
  • Max After Repair Value: $89,900
  • Cash Price: $29,900 firm.
  • Exit Strategy: Owner Finance with 35K repairs: 5-10k down, $895 monthly P/I, or owner finance as is, $500 per month, 30 year amortization, 10% interest, Price: 89.9K, can sell note after 1 year; or rent: $900 monthly with 38K in repairs.
  • Notes: We recommend that you owner finance this house because you will have no maintenance expenses.

The majority of my buyers for real estate cash flow are former buyers of California investment property, San Francisco investment property, Los Angeles investment property and San Diego investment property. San Antonio investment properties are hard to beat for cash flow and low cost, especially when you do not have to do maintenance on them.

But remember, this is seller financed property, not a rental property.

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Should I Buy An Out of State Investment Property?

If you are a real estate investor in California or another high-cost area, you probably are considering an out-of-state investment property. In the costly cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles, many real estate investors are priced out of the market.

This recent graphic of San Francisco housing prices tells the tale:

san-fran-768x576

Investing in a market like that is brutal unless your closets are full of cash. Here in Texas, I have been blessed to build a big portfolio of under market value investment properties that are very low priced.

If you are ever considering an out-of-state investment property purchase, below are some pointers:

How to choose your out-of-state market

The best locales to invest in under market value properties depends on what you want to achieve. Do you want to flip for quick cash or buy and hold long term? I always want long term real estate cash flow.

Also, I favor investing in under market value, buy-and-hold properties — usually with seller financing. Long-term cash flow is, in my opinion, the best vehicle for massive wealth accumulation.

Anyway, note that a good buy-and-hold market might not be so great for flipping. In my home market of San Antonio, flipping is getting harder as prices rise.

Many flippers I know are starved of under market value deals that can turn them a decent profit. On the other hand, buy-and-hold investors like me are doing well; 10 to 12 percent ROI is still routine for my portfolio.

As you mull where to purchase your out-of-state investment property, consider these points:

  • State laws: Is your potential out-of-state market friendly to under market value property owners? I advise you to invest only in states that have landlord and owner-friendly laws. I want to be able to evict non-paying tenants and foreclose easily on defaulting buyers. Texas is property owner-friendly.
  • Population and economic trends: Is the state growing or shrinking in population? How is the job market? As an example, according to CNN Money, Texas is seeing rapid population growth and a strong job market. Forbes stated in a Jan. 14 article that four of its 53 boomtowns are in Texas: San Antonio, Houston, Austin and Dallas. A state with strong population and job growth will have plenty of renters and buyers needing houses.
  • Price-to-rent ratios: What does it cost to rent a house compared to buying one? CNN has a helpful graph on price-to-rent ratios. San Francisco and Honolulu have the highest ratios — over 30 — while Detroit is lowest at around 10. Generally, I recommend buying in a market with a moderate price-to-rent ratio.

This is not an exhaustive list of considerations for buying out-of-state investment properties. However, if those three points look solid, odds are you will produce positive cash flow in that area.

How to locate a good out-of-state investment property

If you have a good idea of your best city to invest in, how do you know which under market value property to buy? Most investors go one of two routes:

  • Find a great real estate agent or investor who knows how to scout for good under market value properties and wholesale property. Hopefully, he or she will network with top-notch property inspectors, rehabbers, title companies and a real estate attorneys.
  • Find a reliable turnkey property company. These under market value properties have been 100 percent rehabbed and often have tenants already in place.

Which route do you choose? It depends. Many out-of-state property investors want zero headaches or stress and don’t want wholesale property. So they purchase turnkey properties.

Other investors want to save money, so they find their own under market value properties and coordinate their own rehabs and property management.

If you handle your own investment properties out of state, consider:

Upsides

  • You get the house cheap
  • High ROI
  • You control rehab costs

Downsides

  • The house has zero cash flow during your rehab and time to find the occupant
  • Rehab costs might skyrocket if your partners on site are not top tier
  • It’s difficult to manage rehab from 1,000 miles away
  • Material costs can increase when you do one rehab at a time

If you buy turnkey, consider:

Upsides

  • There’s no rehab to worry about
  • An occupant is in place
  • There’s no muss or fuss on your part
  • Material costs are standardized
  • The quality of work is there for you to see from the start
  • The entire investment team is in place

Downsides

  • Higher upfront cost
  • Lower ROI

How much is the difference between buying an under market value property yourself or a turnkey property? In my experience, I can do the rehab on a distressed property for half of what a typical rehab crew will charge.

That can make a difference of 2 to 3 percent in ROI per year. That adds up over time. However, I’m a full-time investor with a construction company. My rehabs cost less because I do 100 per year. You might not be able to do that, so a turnkey might make more sense.

For the beginner, I might lean toward buying solid turnkey company in a low-cost market as a first out-of-state investment property. That will help you dip your feet into the investing waters with some positive cash flow, then you can grow into building your own under market value investment team. Above all else, look for solid real estate cash flow from your distressed properties to get the best start in real estate.

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$25,000 Under Market Value Property – San Antonio TX 12% ROI

One of the best ways to make passive income in real estate investing is under market value properties. Every one of the houses that I buy in San Antonio TX are at least 20% under market value. By buying a property that is under market value, you always know that you will be well protected if there is a downturn in the market while you are working on the wholesale property.

Most of my below market value houses in San Antonio TX might be called ‘junk houses,’ but there are three things you should understand:

  • I owner finance my houses to mostly blue collar Hispanic contractors, who greatly value the opportunity to own their own home without any banks involved.
  • There are 500,000 or more blue collar Hispanic workers living in the communities I buy under market value properties. There always is a strong market for owner financing these distressed homes.
  • These under market value investment properties can easily produce an investment return of 11-12% without any maintenance. In some cases, these below market value investment properties can be sold without any repairs at all; I just sold a distressed, $25,000 house this week to a blue collar worker for $45,000, $5000 down.

In short, these below market value investment properties in San Antonio, Texas are an excellent source of cash flow that have made me wealthy. Here is a nice $25,000 wholesale property that will make at least 12% ROI if rehab is done. I also can market it with a quick $2000 clean up and the ROI could be 14% or more:

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  • Address: 228 Yucca, San Antonio, Texas 78207
  • Year Built: 1950
  • Description: Booming San Antonio Market, very popular location west of downtown, this is a 2/1 that has a lot of potential, perfect for a young family. This is a great location and wholesale property, only a few minutes west of downtown and the Riverwalk. Property sits on a beautiful large lot, plenty of room for growth or a wonderful playground and garden.
  • Max After Repair Value: $89,900
  • Cash Price: $25,000 firm.
  • Exit Strategy: Owner Finance with 35K repairs: 5-10k down, $895 monthly P/I, 30 year amortization, 10% interest, Price: 89.9K, can sell note after 1 year; or rent: $900 monthly with 38K in repairs.
  • Notes: We recommend that you owner finance this house because you will have no maintenance expenses.
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What Should I Look for In a Wholesaler That Sells Under Market Value Properties?

As a very successful wholesaler of below market value properties in Texas, I know what many under market value property investors are looking for when they buy a property:

ROI and nothing else.

I definitely do understand why below market value property investors buying out of state investment property want to make a good rate of return! Many of my California cash buyers get tired of making 3% returns on their insanely expensive investment properties, so obviously they want to make as high a return as possible.

But as my mascot Teddy says:

teddy roi

Smart boy! 🙂 Currently, my under market value properties in San Antonio TX, we are seeing prices in the $60,000 range with $25,000 to $30,000 in rehab, which nets an annual rate of return of 11-12% typically. Some investors may not think this is enough, but I can tell you this: I was able to financially retire at age 28 by making 10-12% per year on under market value buy and hold investments, and $5000-$10,000 on flips.

Here is a good example of a great below market value property I own:

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  • Address: 914 W Hutchins Pl, San Antonio, TX 78221-2513
  • Year Built: 1950
  • Description: Add more Cash Flow properties to your portfolio, large fenced yard with mature tress, 9, 3 beds, 1 bath, 1300 sqft,  Yearly Taxes: $2,000.00, Estimated Yearly Insurance: $700, located south of beautiful downtown, well established neighborhood, parks, and schools, Estimated Repairs: 30-35K, flooring, electrical/plumbing up to code, bath/kitchen update, paint in/out, central HVAC, etc. Max ARV 109K with owner finance.
  • ARV: $119,000-$125,000 with owner finance
  • Cash Price: $59,900 firm.
  • Exit Strategy:Owner Finance with 30K repairs: 5-10K down, $1095 monthly PI/TI, 30 year amortization, 10% interest, Price: 109K; or Rent with 30K rehab: $1095.00; Or paint clean Jazz with 15K in repairs and owner finance for 87K.
    review sold and rental comps.

Now, many under market value investors will look at that return, which is around 11-12% and say, ‘Yeah, that’s pretty good, but I can go to XXXXX and make 15% ROI.’

I understand the sentiment, but if all you care about is ROI with below market value property investing, you could be headed for trouble. I’m sure there are some great $5000 properties that you can buy in Detroit! Good luck with that.

What I have learned in 15 years of buying and selling under market value properties is that there are other factors in play when you buy a property from a wholesaler:

  • How many rehabs have they done in the last 10 years and how long have they been in business?
  • How experienced are they in doing rehabs?
  • How accurate are their rehab numbers?
  • How experienced are they in finding quality tenants and owner finance buyers?
  • Are there ARV numbers accurate and is the house being prices with the market?

Those are just a few things that you should carefully consider besides the rate of return on your under market value property. After all, earning ‘16%’ doesn’t sound so good if you are having constant problems with vacancies, property damages and the rehab costs $30,000 more than was estimated.

A top notch wholesaler is an expert in the neighborhoods in which he works. He has done hundreds of deals and rehabs in those areas and knows exactly what a rehab will cost and how much to spend. He also knows what the house will sell for when it’s all said and done.

My point is that you should consider the experience and quality of the wholesaler you are working with, not just the raw, stated rate of return.

 

 

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How You Can Earn 12% ROI on An Under Market Value Property Without Repairs

Most under market value or wholesale property investors I know buy houses with mortgages and rent them out. I used to heavily purchase under market value properties and rent them out, as well.

However, about 10 years ago, one of my real estate investing mentors pointed something critical out to me: John, you’re in San Antonio TX. You have all these blue collar workers you are renting houses to. Why not just owner finance the under market value property to them and let them do most of the repairs?

Wow, what a great idea, I thought! Most of the time, when you purchase a whole sale under market value investment property, you spend $30,000 or more doing the rehab and then you have to work to find good tenants. And we all know some of the disadvantages of rental properties:

  • Leaking roofs, electrical problems, broken hot water heaters, busted toilets.
  • Damage by tenants
  • Tenants that don’t pay and stay in the property
  • Vacancies
  • Problems with property managers, not to mention the expense

I had all of these problems at one time or another with my 200 rental properties. However, in 2008, I started to convert all of my below market value rental properties to owner financing.

Here’s how I turned my renters into owner finance buyers:

  • I sent each renter a letter asking if they wanted to buy the below market value property.
  • People who wanted to buy it had to send me all of their financial documents so that I could properly qualify them per Dodd Frank rules.
  • People who did not qualify or did not want to buy the property left when their lease was up.
  • Those who wanted to buy the property put $5000 down and agreed to my terms – 10% interest, 30 year note, $600-995 per month PITI.

Once the occupants had bought the properties, they were responsible for all of the maintenance of the under market value whole sale property. I no longer had to be a landlord! What a great deal. Pure passive income every month and no landlording.

If I ever have to foreclose on the below market value property, I’m in TX, and it’s easy to foreclose here – a non-judicial foreclosure state.

And that, my fellow under market value investors, is how you can earn 12% per year on a below market value property and never have to do repairs. That is all I do in my wholesale property business in San Antonio TX now – owner financing. Below is a perfect example of how you can earn a high ROI without maintaining the property:

This distressed property sale was completed in August 2015. 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 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 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%

If you have questions about owner financing property in San Antonio (one of the best cities to invest in real estate) or anywhere else, please contact me.