Houston Trip

The kids aren't used to getting up this early...or having cable tv :)

Last week we took a trip down to Houston, to look for another rental property. We were initially wanting to find a property we could rent to my brother Norman, so he could go to school down there for a process technology degree (they don't offer the program up here in Dallas). But even if he needs to stay with us a little longer, we are still interested in investing in another property out there to either rent or flip. It was a fun trip, even though I admit things are much more hectic with a third kid...especially since I was pumping every 4 hrs. The kids loved staying in a hotel--Lucas was excited to sleep with daddy in one bed, and Olivia slept with me and Frankie--who didn't end up using his travel crib. 

In the morning, it had gotten down in the teens and the rain froze our car solid. It was hard just breaking the ice layer enough to open the doors. This is Olivia freaking out about the windshield wipers scraping the ice. The hotel poured warm water on our windshield to clear it off.

Then we met up with John's ex-co-worker Scott and his family. It was so nice to visit with them, and L & O loved playing with their son. They were so generous they offered to watch L & O when we met up with our realtor the next day to look at houses.

Connie made this delicious vegetable pasta bake, with catfish filets. Very good---they are really into healthy diets and non-GMO products. They even have a garden in the back where they have all kinds of vegetables. 

They did puzzles, and then we did some karaoke! Lucas did a little break-dancing too. 

We looked at quite a few houses, but nothing seemed worth the listing price, or our efforts renovating. So we decided to look into this Foreclosed property, that happens to be right next door to our other rental. It is bank-owned, and the listing price is higher than we are willing to pay, so we are looking into comparable homes for the rental market in the area, and also re-sell value. This house has "good bones" as they say, but the previous owners did not maintain anything, and there is a lot of work to be done. It has a lot of potential though, and we are thinking we can make it a 'crash pad' for airline employees that need temporary places to stay, since although they will be paying us more than a year long tenant would, it is cheaper than staying in a crappy hotel/motel for a week to a month etc. Lots of possibilities, still considering them all.

The pictures don't truly show all the work we will need to do in fixing, removing, painting, replacing etc to make this house livable. We did it with the other house, but this will be truly a challenge considering how far away we will be living and that we have a 2 mo old...

Can't you just see it remodeled with crystal blue water? Probably going to have to put in an additional ~$20k to make it how we want it. 

Anyway, even if we don't buy right now, it was a worthwhile trip to check on our rental, and meet with John's friend Scott and his family. Since we drive long distances quite often, this trip was very short, about 4 1/2 hrs. We took a little drive through the city of Dallas on the way home. This city scene is really pretty at night, especially when this ball thing lights up green.

To be continued!