Fat Property was the first company in Houston to accept rent payments in BTC. Way back in early 2013. If you want to endlessly scroll though our old posts, you may even find some bitcoin related content.

2013 was a wild year for Bitcoin. It started at about $13, went over $1,000 that same year, then back down to about $750. So if you think the price of Bitcoin changes a lot now, it’s nothing compared to back in the day!

Making a payment couldn’t be easier. Head on over to pay.fatproperty.com. If your property is listed in the drop down, select it. Then the unit number. Finally put in your name/email. All of this just helps the system automatically apply your payment to your ledger. However, don’t worry… If your property isn’t listed, just type in your info. Your property manager will be informed of the payment and they’ll manually apply the payment to the ledger. Right now payments are done via on chain BTC, but lightning support will be added soon (for faster/cheaper transactions)

For the rest of the year we are offering a $25 credit for all rent payments made in BTC. This includes any payments made via Cashapp, Venmo, paypal, etc when the payment via BTC option is selected.

We’ve had an uptick in people reaching out to us to make an offer on our properties. The first question we’re asked is the purchase price. Then if we’d seller finance, what down payment we’d need, how long we’d finance for, and at what rate. Also, how long we’d allow for closing, how much earnest money is needed (and what % of that EM is non refundable and when).

I had been trying to explain how when you’re making an offer on a property, pulling one lever in your favor may result in another lever moving out of your favor. I tried to think of a good analogy to explain this and I think I found one: Role Playing Games.

Click/tap/lick here to read more…

We just bought 519 Branard. Funny story with this one (if I may…): We have a good friend who used to be in this business. Back when we started, he was very active. Even though we were both buying in the same market, we never really bumped heads on a deal.

However, this deal came our way (yeeears ago). We tried to buy it. But our friend ended up with it. He was able to get it, despite paying less, since he could swoop in all cash / close quick. While we required seller financing (aw, those were the day). We can’t be too mad at that since that’s now the way we’re able to get deals while paying a bit less than others.

Anyway, fast forward 100 years (or maybe 10 years. Who can keep track?) and the deal finds it’s way back to us. Our friend sold it quite a while ago. And that seller sold it as well. So we’re buying it from the equivalent of our 3rd cousin (twice removed)

Welcome to the family 519 Branard!

PS, at this point if you view www.fatproperty.com/map you’re going to have to zoom in to see all of our properties since from a large inner loop perspective, all the little pins overlap.

Squeezing in ONE MORE before the new year… We just bought 2300 Stanford. A *heavily* updated 8 unit in the Fairview area of Montrose. Right by our favorite breakfast spot (Baby Barnabys)

Want to lease a unit over there? OF COURSE YOU DO! Reach out to us: leasing@fatproperty.com

“^{You have your other friends, They were there when you cried
Didn’t mean to hurt you then, Best friends just won’t leave your side}“

This is one of the more common questions we get. We have properties that have traditionally been listed as “all bills paid”. The problem is we could have a $900/month “all bills paid” studio, while someone else has one for $800/month that’s not “all bills paid”. Ours will cost a resident much less (after you add bills to the other one), but if you’re just browsing you don’t really see that one includes bills and one doesn’t. So ours looks more.

To solve this we’ve, at times, done what others do which is lower the price for what might be considered base rent, then add bills on top (based on a single flat fee based on total average over the last 12 months). Other properties we bill back utilities as they’re charged to us. We also have properties where some bills (gas, electric) are in the tenants name while others (perhaps water and trash) are not. In those cases, sometimes they’re bundled in rent, and other times they’re billed at as a flat fee.

No matter how we’ve done it, we’ve always felt there should be a better way. Something that’s simple and transparent. We figured that would start by showing what properties we have and how they’re currently billed (if at all) so that if you’re looking at a specific property, you’ll always know how it works. Then, from there, add a consistent methodology as to how bills are calculated.

Click, tap, or lick here for the full breakdown

We get this a lot. While the quick and easy answer is “1/2 months rent”, there are properties that pay up to 1 full months rent. And we have programs that can cause it to go up even higher. So given the number of times we’ve responded to this question, we felt it would be better to just create a quick page to put that info. Annnnnnnnd, here it is

The newest property to join the family is 420 W Alabama. This one is special to us as it’s in the Westmoreland subdivision of Montrose where some of us live, and where we have several properties already. It also happens to be right across the street from our office.

The building is beautiful. All units are nicely outfitted and have central air. Property is gated and lots of off-street parking. Contact us to setup a showing!

“^{I heard it once, I’m sure I heard it twice. My dad used to give me all of his advice
He would say, “You gotta turn your back and run now. Come on son, you haven’t got a chance now”}

It’s been ‘a while’ but we finally broke the 2,000 unit barrier. Not in total units bought (as we crossed that a while ago — some were just sold along the way), but actually having 2,000 units in our portfolio at once.

It’s been a heck of a ride. All starting with that first 8 unit (we needed help figuring out where to download a lease to use, and how to fill it out!). But we made it work, and somehow stumbled our way to be one of the largest owners of multifamily in Houston. Obviously none of it would have been possible without our great team and all the people we’ve met along the way (from bankers, other investors, brokers, vendors, and more)

So thanks to all who helped get us here. See ya at 3k.

We’ll soon be adding the largest vintage multifamily in Houston to our portfolio. This will be one of our largest projects to date. Not the largest in terms of building size, but in terms of scope of what we plan to do. The units will all be gutted to the studs and everything will be replaced. It’s been just rotting for years. We’re happy to give it ‘A New Hope (prop)’

^{“Princess Leia, where are you tonight? And who’s laying there by your side? Every night I fall asleep with you. And I wake up alone”}

When we saw 1328 Bomar hit the market, we thought “this looks like it’d be perfect!”. So we sent in an offer, and snatched it up. Super cute, gated, central air. Just an overall nice little Montrose property.

_{No new light under the moon, Stuck in life’s waiting room}