All Forum Posts by: Stone Jin

@Keith Ralleca South mountain generally is a tougher part of town, but there are pockets of newer subdivisions.  Generally if you are closer to baseline road, it's not terrible with a lot of new builds.

We look at deals where we can get at least 10% cash on cash and $400 a month in cashflow.  I just don't see it happening with $700 rents.  Just our requirements, that's why I said $700 works great for some investors but just not for us.    The cost to replace a furnace is the same whether the rent is $700 or $1700.  

There seems to be a slew of investors looking to house hack in phoenix on the BP forums the last few days. I think the available inventory of small MF homes on MLS doesn't pencil out. Any that do are snatched up in hours. You can try to buy a home with an guest home that could be rented out. There are some of those available in central phoenix.

@Engelo Rumora $700 is perfect for locals.  As out of state folks like me, I can't deal with a $700 rental, minimum $1200 rents for me.  You are correct the suburbs suppport a higher rent but in Toledo it is definitely more difficult.

@Spencer Pillera You may want to consider houses with a guest house or casita.  Or house hacking a large house near a university and rent out the rooms.  You can buy 4 bedroom homes in Tempe near ASU sub 250K still.  Renting out 2 rooms to students may yield a greater return than a 2 bedroom duplex in a sketchy part of town.  

The small MF market in Phoenix is tough right now.  The few MF that are on market are typically not great for house hack as they are not in the best neighborhoods or are WAY over priced.  You may be better off house hacking property with guest house or renting out rooms.  Buying a 5 bedroom near ASU and rent out the rooms.  True MF are picked clean.

The best areas for buy and hold and the best areas to live are not the same.  What's your price range?

@Bob Okenwa is right.  Most of Phoenix and close suburbs are going to be over your 150K price.  You would have to look at the commuter cities.  Casa Grande, Maricopa, San Tan/Queen Creek, some of the cities out west that I'm not familiar with maybe goodyear avondale litchfield.  

A wise investor once showed me how he does his lease renews.  He gives his tenants 3 options at renewal time, 1 year, 6 month and M2M and each has a corresponding price, which I now implement.  

Personally I like longer renewals because it's more predictable as to when I may have to turns.  In AZ it's pretty easy to evict someone if need be.  

@Michael Temple So a couple things 1) I just turned over the property over to PM, they wanted to rent at 1200 but because everything inside is brand new I'm making them rent at $1400 to start.  2) The house though not huge is a 4 bedroom house, and there is a premium for 4 bedrooms as there are very few on the market.  My house is in Sylvan school district so it'll be a little better than like a hillview or stranahan but not as nice as highland whiteford central/timberstone.  However i have another house in south toledo listed at $1600 and have had a dozen showings but no qualified renters.  I think from the feedback of my PM is that higher priced rents in Toledo are much harder to rent.  

We will try it out for a few more months, worst case I will sell in the spring/summer and 1031 back to Phoenix :)