All Forum Posts by: Amber Boskers

@Avery Rustad I like where you are going with this idea! Think of schools that offer trades apprenticeship programs (electrician, powerline, carpentry, etc) and then align your thesis to coincide with what they do and how they do it. Then spin it with your vision for the program and see how that looks. I think you may have a more favorable position if you do that since real estate investing and the trades exist outside the confines of the traditional college model of career development.

Any lenders work with buyers of homes in need of remediation from confirmed Chinese Drywall? Looking for funding options to assist with purchase, or borrow to remediate, or to to pull out equity post remediation.

A residential property we are interested in has confirmed Chinese Drywall. We were told no lender would finance the property with a conventional/jumbo loan to purchase it because of the risk. There is alot of potential in this house.. If we can't finance it upon purchase, then would we be able to successfully finance it AFTER we purchase with cash and remediate it?

@Kaylee Walterbach This is an awesome question! As a sf investor taking the leap into the multifamily space, reading through the answers to your question has been inspiring, motivating and very helpful. Shout out to all the investors sharing their wealth of knowledge and to BP for the forum to help others grow big!

@Wesley Henry

Hi Wesley,

Congratulations on your investing plans! As a Canadian (now US Green card holder) who started investing in the Phoenix market back in 2010, I can give you some pointers.

Find an exceptional accountant that can do both Canadian and American taxes, or an accountant in both countries. The Canadian Revenue Agency will want a piece of every US property you buy and sell (especially the sell part - capital gains!), and your rental income. You need good people working for you to protect you and your assets. Find a Canadian lawyer or US attorney who can set up a LLC or Corporation for you based on your personal/business plan and goals (the state in which you form your business actually makes a difference - your US accountant will tell you why). You will need an ITIN number for you and/or an EIN number for your business from the IRS in order to open a US bank account, and to file taxes. My understanding is that you will need a US address (not PO box) to open an account but don't quote me on that.

The exchange rate matters. Right now $1 Canadian = approx $0.75 US. That means your goal of $170K/ unit is about $128K/ unit US not including exchange fees. Make sure that is a workable number in your areas of interest and adjust accordingly if need be. Reach out to lenders in your area of choice to see what their options are for Canadian investors and what their reserves requirements are. Things have changed alot since we started buying... we purchased with cash at the time and the Canadian dollar was close to par with the US dollar. Thatbeingsaid, we worked with RBC US to get a mortgage on our primary residence when we moved down here. Our history with RBC in Canada was what gave us leverage here in the US.

Sure, you could broker your own deal, but as a new foreign investor why risk it? There are things you just simply may not know about when coming into a new country, state, county, city or neighborhood. We lucked out and contacted a rock star Realtor who found us the right investment properties in the right areas at the right prices and was worth her commission (and then some!) because of her expertise... yet we didn't pay her commission because the seller did.

Inevitably you have to do what is best for you. The key is to do your research (like you're doing), and when the numbers work out then go for it! Best of luck to you!

@Taylor L.

Hi Taylor,

Not sure what you mean by 'physical'. There is high demand in the Phoenix area so we have an overall low vacancy rate and increasing rents. In some cities like Gilbert and Surprise, rent on a 2-bed apartment (ApartmentList.com) is higher than rent on a 3-bed, 2 bath single family home (Rentometer.com).

The incoming under-contruction units help but they will push the average rents up even higher (because new build) and they simply aren't enough to keep up with demand.

Interesting stats on the Greater Phoenix Multifamily Market by NorthMarq for those thinking about investing here.

- Vacancy ended 2019 at 5.6%

- Asking Rents increased 9.4% in 2019, ending up at $1,175/month

- Median multifamily price spiked at $138,600 per door, approaching $150,000 per door at the end of the year

- Cap rates averaged 5% in 2019

- The number of properties sold in 2019 was the highest annual total since 2006

*Stats from NorthMarq's Q4 2019 Greater Phoenix Market Report

@Natasha Schoenegger

Congratulations on getting your license! Now comes the fun stuff. I'd recommend a few things to help get you started:

1. Read the book, Ninja Selling by Larry Kendall.

2. Join a brokerage that works with you, for you and will help you become an amazing agent for your clients. Not all brokerages are the same. Interview several of them until you find one that is genuine, is the right fit with who you are, and has your interests in mind. It really does matter. The real estate industry is flooded with agents... our area has over 60,000 active agents (I checked last week), not sure about your area but you have to find a way to stand out. Joining a team that with guide you, teach you, empower you, mentor you, welcome you, and help you learn is of the utmost importance and makes the world of difference.

3. Start taking your continuing education classes now... your schedule may not be that busy so start fitting them in to learn, connect with others, get to know people, and start knocking off those required classes when you have the time because time flies and you're going to get really busy.

Things will start rolling for you soon. Best of luck to you and enjoy the ride!

@Maria D.

Woohoo! Yes, #EXPproud for sure!! I sure am. Would be great to connect... and you're going to love Arizona. :)

@Phillip Davis

There were so many positives from the conference... pre-event mixer, pre-registration, swag (I don't know what it is about the tshirt but I rock mine all the time), networking sessions were great - (best part by far!) I met some amazing people who had some incredible stories and shared really valuable insight and experiences (...I'm part of a mastermind from some of the connections I made), variety of speakers (ALL the heavy hitters were there!), variety of topics, awesome staff, great customer service, food was light but decent (some conferences don't provide any food), appreciated the gift card for completing a conference survey, and the conference wasn't sales-y or gimmicky like other investor conferences.

On the flip-side: The venue itself was expensive as were tickets, some of the conference rooms got crowded (understandable given the speakers and topics), not much social media engagement with attendees (makes sense because all the staff was working at the conference), and some of the topics were mostly geared more towards investor newbies... not so much to those who read BP books or watch webinars or listen to the podcasts regularly. But really, this stuff is all minor.

Given that the 2019 Conference was planned in a really short amount of time, I think it was a great start. And will only get better. That-being-said, I haven't quite decided whether or not I'm going again next year.