All Forum Posts by: Randy K.

No problem at all, glad to be able to help!

@Rhiannon Then brought up a good point about Keyword Alerts too. Whatever it is you're searching for, it could be useful to know whenever anyone brings up the topic in the future. Common Keywords would include city/county names and ZIP codes you're interested in keeping tabs on, as well as particular topics or property types, "tax lien", "foreclosure", "fourplex", "assisted living", etc.

Note: The following works on the desktop version of the site, I'm not familiar with the mobile app.

In the main search bar, enter the term or phrase you're looking for and click Enter or the magnifying glass.

1) On the search results page, there are several subsections. People, Forums, Blog, Marketplace, etc. Click on the "Forums" subsection.

2) There should be a "Filter Results" button somewhere. On the desktop version, it's in the upper-right corner of the results frame. Click that button.

3) Select whichever subforum you'd like to limit your search to.

Northwest corner of Broadway and 48th Street? I often swing by the nearby Whataburger, Panda Express, and/or Taco Bell for my lunch break. I can't imagine it'd be difficult to find tenants (though the quality may be up for debate), and the area is rather busy, both day and night (for better or worse).

@Rob Moran, @Bob Okenwa is right on the money. When the neighborhoods get nicer, it seems to be split more between SFH's and large apartment complexes and/or condo's. The same principle applies down near me in Pinal county in the smaller cities. There are quite a few three and fourplexes in Casa Grande (about 45 minutes south of the Phoenix metropolitan area), but many of them suffer from deferred maintenance and collect low rents.

Even further south (about an hour south of Phoenix), Arizona City has a higher ratio of small multi's, ranging from $90k (see recently sold duplex 9986 W Leander Dr) to $198k (recently sold fourplex 9950 W Lynx Dr). Both of those properties do seem to meet the 1% rule, but the north side of town seems to suffer from a higher-than-usual crime rate.

 
At a glance, at the $2.75M listed price, I'm seeing negative cash flow unless putting a significant percentage down (32%+ down if financing for 30 years at 4.5%, or 47%+ at 20 years and 5%). If my super-brief research is correct (http://azbigmedia.com/azre-magazine/brokerage-news...), at the 2014 $1,159,500 purchase price, I can see a fair-to-good CoC return with only 20% down, depending on additional terms, fees, and running costs. Keep in mind, that's assuming current rents (which were likely a bit lower 3 years ago). Tenant demographic may or may not be a potential issue for prospective buyers.

Sources for rents on the Carole Arms Apartments: https://www.apartmentratings.com/az/phoenix/carole...
https://www.apartments.com/carole-arms-apartments-...

As for W Desert Cove Ave in Phoenix (in the area north of Peoria Ave, east of I-17), I'd personally be hesitant to purchase there, but it all depends on the buyer's comfort levels regarding lower-income tenants. With advertised prices in the $140k-160k range for duplexes, I can see how they'd be appealing to newer investors looking for a low buy-in price.

A wealth of knowledge in this thread! And not only limited to multifamily, much of the advice is applicable to SFH investors as well.

Regarding market trends and whatnot, I've found that, at least in a general sense, the alert features on the major home search sites can provide a steady flow of relevant information to your personal inbox. Keep in mind, the data may not be up-to-the-minute, and there's a chance the property details aren't 100% accurate, but this method seems to give a nice overview of what's going on in your farm.

Take the time to create accounts on Trulia, Redfin, Zillow, Realtor, and/or your alternate site of choice, and enable email alerts for the type of properties you're interested in, in the areas you're focusing on. Be sure to set up the alerts for both properties for sale, as well as for rent. From there, simply check up on the emails you receive each day, taking note of the neighborhoods, property features, and of course, the prices and rents. Within short order you'll start seeing patterns, as well as shifts in the numbers as time passes by. You could keep it as casual as simply taking mental notes, or go as in-depth as recording the various properties into a spreadsheet, then creating charts and graphs.

Once you start getting a solid feel for the overall market you're interested in, don't be afraid to get more specific with your filters. Perhaps you're only wanting to see 3/2 SFH's, condos, multifamily's, or even raw land. Before you know it, you'll see or hear the name of a community and instantly know the ballpark figures for the various properties held within. And more importantly, when a potential deal does cross your path, you'll recognize it when you see it!

I've been curious about it as well. If it's the property I think it is, it'll definitely be interesting to see the end result.

@Giacomo Riccobono, your two-building fourplex wouldn't happen to be part of a larger complex on a split parcel, would it? If so, what's the plan for the other two buildings?

It was great being able to meet with everyone. Thanks again to @Carlos Gonzalez and @Shiloh Lundahl for coordinating and hosting the event, respectively.

In addition to each of us learning about each others' experiences and goals, Shiloh did a solid job demonstrating how, even in this hot local market, opportunities exist with fix-and-flips as well as lease-options. Regarding future gatherings, are there any other topics, strategies, or niches in particular anyone would like to discuss?

Starting with income, it looks like it's a mix of one and two-bed units, so rents may vary considerably from your initial $1,000 estimate per door. Could be worth looking into what the ratio of one to two bed units are. Also, you may find that Rentometer.com is a useful tool for estimating nearby market rents.

When it comes to NOI, you can find taxing information on Maricopa County's assessor page (https://mcassessor.maricopa.gov/mcs.php?q=13814008...) Note: It looks like there are five separate parcels that make up the complex, be sure to total up the annual taxes for your calculations. You may or may not find that 43% will be sufficient to cover all required running costs. It wouldn't hurt to dive in deeper to uncover as many expenses as you can. Area vacancy rates, property management fees (on-site management costs?), utilities paid by owner (trash, sewer?), etc. Personally I made a quick-and-dirty Excel spreadsheet that shows 40%, 50%, and 60% rules, as to give a wide range and let me know, best-case and worst-case scenario, how things might look.

A step further from scratch-paper calculations and spreadsheets, don't hesitate to check out the Rental Property calculator here on the site. I really breaks things down and lets you see the big picture in ways numbers alone don't quite show. https://www.biggerpockets.com/buy-and-hold-calculator

+1 to the Renatus comments. Several months back I contacted the number listed on one of the signs down here in Casa Grande. The guy that called back seemed nice enough, but gave off a sales pitch vibe over the phone. I was promptly invited to a meeting in the near future, and given an address, date, and time to meet. It was essentially pitched as being a REIA-type meeting, though a group name was never mentioned. I Googled the address (this particular one was up at Grayhawk in Scottsdale), discovered that Renatus was holding the specific meeting I'd been invited to. Googled the name, as well as searched for it as a keyword here, and decided to pass on the gathering. MLM's may work great for some people, but I'm not sure it's the type of thing I'd prefer to be associated with...