jobs = rent increases

Marcus and milichap has publised their 3rd quarter apartment research report.   I says in so many words that Austin is experiencing a growth in jobs, a reduction in construction, an increase in rents and a reduction in vacancy.    Each of those things combined equals a good time to own rental property.

Continue reading jobs = rent increases

property tax protests in austin tx travis county

Every year I protest my property tax valuations and almost every year it is time well spent. It allows me to learn something new about how my property is valued and what other property is valued at surrounding my property and is a general adventure in dealing with people.    Continue reading property tax protests in austin tx travis county

Did I miss the boat or has the ship not come in?

Did I miss the real estate investment deal of a lifetime boat?

I read an article the other day that outlined the plight of the small independent real estate investor and it took the time to explain in some detail the requirements for buying property today!   In a word “CASH”!

Continue reading Did I miss the boat or has the ship not come in?

Energy Audit Update

So after the energy audit I got the results which they were not good!   The insulation in the attic was of course terribly inadequate.    The windows being single pane glass of course allow lots of radiate heat into the units.    None of these things were news to me just confirmation of the age of the property.    One of the other things checked included the duct work of the HVAC system.    Not only the exhaust side but the supply side.

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Energy Audit in Austin TX

So last week I began the process of completing the energy audit that the city of Austin Mandates for all multi family properties inside the city.   The City passed an energy audit ordnance and it says that by June 1 you need to do an energy audit on your property and then you going to need to disclose the results to the prospective tenants.   So after calling a few energy audit companies.   I settled on one 1stchoiceenergy.com David Malone is the owner and they can be reached at  512-762-5000 and his website is www.1stchoiceenergy.com Continue reading Energy Audit in Austin TX

My first eviction saga…….

(Normally evictions are a pain but not a SAGA) It all started when a tenant did not pay and performed what I call a Midnight move out. That is when they move at midnight so no one would see what was happening. Well this tenant did not take everything. So I called her and said hey do you want this stuff?

Yes I will get it in a couple of days.

NO you can come get it from the front porch b/c I am setting it out as we speak.    Continue reading My first eviction saga…….

New Data available from Texas A&M real estate center

The real estate center at Texas A&M has just updated thier market data for the entire state of texas.   If you need data to back up your investment decisions here is the place to go.

http://recenter.tamu.edu/mreports/

If you dont want to have the vultures sitting on your investment do your home work 1st

Vultures on your Investment