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Category Archives: rental properties

Workin’ on a Presence and New Project

It’s a logo.

You’re Too Kind!

Thanks to all you zillions of people who celebrated along with us as we officially acquired the Hermit Haus property. Since then, I’ve been starting on a website, which is nowhere near finished, but you can look at it, if you want to. And we have a temporary logo, featuring the friendly Hermann. We at least now have a presence!

We’ll let you know when there’s a Facebook page and all that, but until then, we will put updates on the Hermits’ Rest Enterprises page.

And More Remodeling

The new project we’re working on now is sprucing up our old office, which you may recall is a really lovely 1930s house in Cameron, the former Trubee place. It has four bedrooms and two baths, though one bedroom is really better suited to being a sunroom, office, or den. It has a huge living area and a gorgeous dining room. Continue reading →

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A Contractor for that Mattress House?

“I’m very good with digging through rubble. You guys should have hired ME,” says Vlassic.

The good news is that the Mattress 8 project in Temple no longer has any mattresses in it.

The bad news is that it doesn’t have a contractor working away in it, either.

It’s not for lack of trying! Lee and Mandi have been contacting potential contractors, scheduling meetings, finding the potential contractors are flaky, and starting the process again. Lots of times. I know that all our mentors say Craigslist is a great place to find contractors who will work for reasonable rates, but we are not lucking out in the Temple market at all.

But maybe the tide has turned! Lee met with another potential contractor, who even has a team and is interested in investing. His initial estimate is in line with what we think the project will cost to get it up to rental quality. We’re just waiting for the bid now.

Cross your fingers, or whatever you do to support your real estate redevelopment friends, and hope this one works and we can MOVE on this project!

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Do You Have Anything for Rent?

diagram of houe

We buy houses. We renovate houses. We sell houses or rent them out. But whatever we do has to make sense. Right now, it’s getting harder to buy rental houses in many Texas markets. That means it’s getting harder for tenants to find houses they can both afford and want to rent.

One thing Austin and Cameron have in common is a shortage of housing most people can afford. I’m avoiding the term “affordable housing,” because of the connotation of it being subsidized.

  • In Cameron, many teachers and other professionals commute in to their jobs because as even the school superintendent noted, “I could rent houses in the $900-$1000 range in no time.” There just aren’t many houses in that price range, and those that exist stay rented. We were able to relet one of ours before the previous tenants moved out.
  • In Austin, our available rentals seldom stay on the market for more than a few days.
  • Tenants are staying in place more than they used to. A few have even been asking for two-year leases or longer.
  • Nationally, many older folks (and young singles) are having to take on roommates to afford their rent, ala Golden Girls.

Why Are Rentals Scarce?

Continue reading →

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Why Would I Sell?

When you decide to sell or continue holding an investment property, there aren’t any right or wrong decisions—only consequences. It’s important to be mindful of those consequences and make the right decision for the information you have at the time. Then live with the consequences without regrets.

So you have a nice rental property with multiple income streams. Why would you want to sell it?

A lot of reasons may influence your decision.

A Better Life for Everyone
Several of our tenants have fallen in love with their rental and asked us to sell it to them. They get a house they know and love. If they have traditional financing, we get a chunk of cash to reinvest. If we owner-finance, we get a much smaller chunk of cash, but we continue to have passive income without the expenses of renting.

Continue reading →

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Properties for Sale in Abilene

Walking away…

The Mangums are selling two rental properties in Abilene, Texas.

  1. 410 San Jose
  2. 809 Peake

San Jose house

These were some of our earliest investments, and have been cash-flowing and appreciating consistently the whole time. Even though both of us still have family in Abilene, Carol and I are shifting our efforts southward to the San Marcos and San Antonio markets. Continue reading →

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