All Forum Posts by: Marian Smith

Phoenix rents are going down.  Might wait and see how things shake out.  Living in an expensive state you need to be careful not to view other markets as bargains in comparison.  Look at price vs rents and rent histories.  Markets cycle.

I read somewhere that humans instinctively like the savanna, open land with a few trees.  Easy to spot predators and trees to hide in or get away.  Plant 4-5 native oaks spread out.  Put a 5 gallon bucket with a tiny drilled hole at the bottom edge at each tree and fill the bucket with water twice a week to encourage deep roots.  Good quality trees are worth thousands when selling.

I have a condo that was like that because it was on the second floor and both bedrooms could use the bathroom.  We closed off the master access but all the other condo owners left it as is.  We thought a single door would work better for roommates.  Not weird at the time it was built.  You see it all the time in 70's buildings.   

Ditto.  Learned by doing.  8k is no small amount of money and how would someone be able to teach you what is not already known by a slew of people you can ask questions of?  Loan agents, clerks in the title company, etc.  They're all nice and helpful to others. If you read and understand the instructions for a 1040 tax form schedule e, you basically now understand how to make money renting out property.  No one can tell you how to choose appreciating properties or avoid areas posed for a downturn because that is a prediction...but jobs play a key role.  What price to pay is the hardest.  But you will be 8k ahead if you don't buy a bootcamp.

I saw an airbnb where the owner had taken an upstairs bedroom and built a second story deck private entrance.  She also closed off the airbnb room and the bathroom from the rest of the house...may have been a jack and jill bathroom and she just removed doors and  sheetrocked over the old opening.  That might be the most cost efficient way to get rent w/o sharing your living space. 

Don't knowyourstaye laws, but If there is a garage tell her she has 48 hours to move her stuff into the garage or you will.  Then do it so you can clean and paint.  

When a new deed is recorded it resets the starting point to January 1 of the next year.  Protest if you paid 480k and try to get them to appraise it closer to what you paid.  This years number locks you in and appraisal can only go up 10% here on out. 

The walls entail removing sheetrock so not cost effective unless converting garageto living space,

buy insulation from home depot and you can use their machine.  watch a video, a garage shouldn't be hard.  Or hire a company to blow an extra 6" overall and 12" over the garage.

My neighbor replaced her en suite bathroom door with a frosted glass 3 panel barn door and it looks snazzy.  But it kind of depends on privacy needs, if the door is visible to living areas you might need better sound control than a barn door will provide.  A pocket door is an ideal space saver.