All Forum Posts by: Justin Owens

Originally posted by @Jennifer Conti:

@Justin Owens how is your current property in San Tan Valley doing? I'm looking at buying my first buy and hold in the area and after talking to a few property management companies, San Tan Valley seems like a prime place to buy (prices still low enough to cash flow, low vacancy rates). Curious on your thoughts.

Since we purchased in February 2017 we have some nice  appreciation in value, not sure that it helps someone buying now. We are leery of Johnson Utilities as they have struggled to provide good customer service at a reasonable rate but our tenants pay for water themselves. But we fear people not wanting to deal with them. We had a lot of demand when filling the unit after a light rehab in March/April.

Update on my cat/dog house and I had the flooring ripped out to the concrete. The worst room was the front room and it was carpet on top of old linoleum tiles. All gone along with 95 percent of the smell and it was pungent. I will still treat the floor with the odor treatment ordered from Amazon and run the ozone machine but I have little worry that the smells will persist after we are finished. #worsthouse2besthouse

@Kurt Granroth there is definitely room for the little guy. I am new myself and before this year I hadn't bought an investment property for several years. Of the five we have purchased so far, 3 are in Mesa, one in Chandler and 1 in San Tan Valley. We kept one in Mesa and San Tan Valley as rentals, flipped one in Chandler and are currently rehabbing 2 in Mesa as flips. 3 we got from wholesalers and 2 from MLS. These aren't $80k per deal flips but we are making money, learning the process, and vetting contractors. I'm happy to share what little I have learned along the way, unfortunately I haven't had the time to blog about everything here on BP.

Welcome @Kurt Granroth. Real estate isn't a zero sum game or competition. There are lots of deals they just take a bit of work. For each of the 5 properties in our area that we bought this year (our first as active investors) there have only been a few "competitors". It can be done. Best of luck!

@John Franczyk I haven't tried it yet but I am about to buy an ozone machine for a cat house I am rehabbing. I heard about this from other experienced investors. I have 2 going so it makes sense to buy but you can also rent.

@Olivia Darling Also consider mobile homes on rented land only depreciate in value in general. They may cash flow well and that is where they derive value for the investor.

I had a prospective tenant showing of a 2 bed 2 bath Townhome with a very small walled courtyard. The online questionairre indicated there would be 3 adults a 2 dogs. After speaking with the woman who showed up, she asked why all us landlords descriminated against felons. She goes on to explain she wanted he boyfriend and 2 brothers to live with her there along with 2 dogs one large and one medium sized. She goes on to explain one brother is a level 1 sex offender because of trouble he got into at 18 and he is now 25. I was reeling from the sex offender ramifications but trying to get 4 adults and 2 dogs in 1000 sf town home on 2 levels seems like a lot of wear and tear. I have no doubt people have seen worse but I thought I better wait for a better tenant than get desperate to rent to this group. Any thoughts?

@Ran Cohen it needs to go in the marketplace section of the forums. that's it. I am not sure if one needs to be plus or a pro member to post there

Welcome Mrs. A, you doing the 90 day challenge? it's good to have you

I have a rehab project going now and one of the deciding factors to flip vs buy and hold was the fact that it had so many great shade trees. They have value and no tenant would care for them.