All Forum Posts by: Stone Jin

If I recall correctly in 2008 the condo market crashed quite a bit more drastically than SFH. Maybe my memory is foggy. I'm not saying another crash is coming, just something to be aware of.

There has been huge amount of new apartment development in the East Valley, so your competition is going be greater unless you can offer a better product cheaper.  I know a lot of investors are turning to vacation rentals esp since AZ law permits it.  However, my feeling is that market may get over saturated very quickly. 

Generally, buy and hold investments in Phoenix metro is very competitive and returns aren't very good. I think in today's market SFH is a better buy than condo.

What are you trying to do?  What is the unusual need?

@Michol Murray, I'm assuming you bought or refinanced in 2007 with a very low down payment to be underwater in Chandler current day.  I would say in a year or so if things don't go completely haywire, you should be no longer underwater. (All guessing of course)

Also is there room to raise your rents as Chandler rents have really gone up in the last 15 months.  Stuff I was renting for 1100 3 years ago are renting for 1400.  I would consider raising your rents to cover the deficit, or at least some of it.

I generally agree with all above that you aggressively paying off your debt isn't the right play. Unless you can pay all of it off, you will still be in the current situation (unless you refi etc etc etc). Buying a second property may also not be a good play as the current market in AZ is not yielding great returns. I'm not sure you can cashflow $200 in Chandler/Gilbert right now. 200K homes renting for 1300. You can invest in other parts of the valley and get $200 but that's a different game than SFH in EV.

Best of luck,

Stone

I would check with a lawyer but I'm not sure how much water a verbal contract holds in terms of landlord tenant act.  You should just talk to your roommate/friend and just say hey it seems like you don't want to live here anymore, let me know if you need a reference when finding a new place.  

Messy situation, one of the reason why I never rent to people I know personally.

We own and manage 4 VR in Chandler.  The winter season is almost 100% booked via VRBO/Homeaway.  The rest of the year is a mix of Airbnb and VRBO, we no longer advertise on CL as it just didn't yield much results.  We are pretty on top of it so our vacancy rate is usually less than 1 month total per year per unit, so a week here and a week there.

VR are significantly more work than unfurnished rental (which we also have).  If you are out of state, you will need to find a PM that does VR, they generally charge about 25%.  I think VR is one of the few ways you can still make decent returns in the PHX market however just be prepared for the extra work, the unexpected utility bills in the summer (some tenants just leave the AC at 70 all the time, so $300-$400 a month is not unexpected, you can put clauses in that say you will cover only the first $150 but that's hard to do with short term rentals that may not start on billing cycles).  The cleaning staff scheduling, the restocking of consumables, the counting of inventory, etc etc.  

Best of luck

Stone

Congrats on the your first deal.  I think you came out ahead, you just got a free education in today's market which is super competitive.  I had to pay tuition for my education.  Made nearly all the same mistakes as you.  Luckily the market was able to bail me out (2010 purchase in Phoenix market).  

Keep grinding away.

Brian Volland Check out www.doctorevictor.com. It is a page for law office of hull holiday holiday. They do a lot of evictions in maricopa. They also have sample documents there such as a lease. My lease is an adaptation of theirs plus some addendum items.

if you had 6 mortgages then the whole world of lending opens up.  I wasn't able to do a cash out refi with more than 6 from a traditional source.  there are portfolio lenders out there that would do it but some only do it based on purchase price and not appraised price.  There are lenders out there that would do it but the rate is likely higher than your current rate.  If you find one that will do it let me know.

@Robert Grant What would the rates be?

So since you will be living in 1 of the units, are you looking for property that can cashflow with 1 of the 2 or 3 being utilized by you?