All Forum Posts by: Wes Blackwell

@Ravi Kiran

If a property is renovated, has nice pictures, and is easy to get in and view, there's only one thing stopping it from selling... price.

This is the 90's where you can fool people about what a property might be worth. Hell, Zillow is telling people what they think your property is worth while they're looking at it. 

Previous agent should've advised you better, but hopefully this one will help you listen to the market and get it sold. Best of luck!

@Alus Kunwar

Well, the big question is "What are your goals?" Both short term and long term. And what does your wife think bahahaha. But seriously.

What would be your reason to move? Bigger better house? Better neighborhood? Do you have kids (or plan to have kids) that these moving plans might affect?

Also, another thing to consider is what a second home is going to cost you. And what your home would rent for... and if you'd even be able to get a loan for a second house. Best to talk with your lender and see what might be possible.

If the long-term goal is to own multiple properties, and buying a second house to move into won't cause you to get into debt up to your eyeballs, and you can rent your current house for enough to cover all the bills, then go for it.

But depending on your family plans, that all might be different.

If you let us know a little more, perhaps we can give you better advice about buying a second house in Phoenix.

@Arturo Andres Lara

Hey Arturo! As Doug said, do you have a specific question you're looking to get answered? There are rental opportunities all over the valley... is there something specific about Mesa? Or are you looking to invest in your backyard and want to know about the market. We're here to help, just need a little guidance!

@A. Maldonado

I would have your mom and boyfriend consider their goals for real estate investing. Are they looking to bolster their retirement income? Are they looking for a rental? Or to fix and flip? Rent out their current home and buy a new home?

There are lots of possibilities and options here in Arizona. If they don't even know the possible options, perhaps you could explain it to them or work with a local agent who is well-versed in working with investors and can help them explore what might be possible.

They aren't too old, and beyond their own benefit lies the benefit to you and their grandkids in what they leave behind, so they should think beyond the immediate and focus on the future. Make sense?

Consider the point of view of the Realtor at this moment:

I like my time. I don't like wasting it.

I don't get paid unless you buy, so if I put in hours of work with you and you buy with someone else representing you as your agent, it was a complete and total waste of time.

I see that you're in the military... imagine if you got deployed, fought a couple battles, and then your commanding officer said "Sorry, we've decided to go with another soldier... no paycheck for you." You'd be pretty pissed about it, huh?

I've had several rookie buyers on here reach out to me and ask me a million questions about the Sacramento or Phoenix, have me search and analyze properties for them, run the numbers, etc. and then email me one day and say they just got an offer accepted and wanted to thank me for all the help.

Turns out, they bought the home with their sister-in-law as their agent who knows next to nothing about investing in real estate. They used my knowledge and advice, but she got paid. How is that fair?

As agents, we give A LOT without any guarantee of compensation. From her perspective, she's already shown you three houses, spent hours of her time working with you, and wants to make sure you're going to buy the home with her before she spends any more time.

I'm sure your wife would've felt the same way if you went several years dating her without putting a ring on her finger. She wants to know you're going to "buy the house" before she invests any more time or energy with you.

"Kieth honey, when do you think we're going to get married?"

"Babe, I do not like contracts. I like flexibility. I like learning. I like comparing and contrasting people the same way I like comparing properties."

Hope you can appreciate the tongue-in-cheek joke, but hopefully it makes a point.

@Scott Vogeli

Hey Scott, I do a lot of business in Sacramento with investors so I can speak from experience.

Have you already run the numbers on a fourplex in Downtown/Midtown Sacramento?

An $800,000 fourplex with 25% down ($200,000 mind you) you're still going to be left with a monthly mortgage payment of $4,000+

Living in one unit will short your cashflow, so you'll likely still have a payment afterwards. May not be what you were planning for.

Depending on your long-term strategy, this may be the right move for you... but if you've got $200k socked away then buying two $400k fourplexes would be a better move.

In short, you can leverage your money (and returns) a lot further with a lower priced property. Just some food for thought.

@Casey Kendzior

Hey Casey! Welcome to BiggerPockets!!!

First off, thank you for your service!!!

Second, since you'll be coming back with that GI bill, I highly suggest looking into buying your first home with a VA loan. You could even look into a duplex-triplex-fourplex to get started since that's still considered residential.

That way you can kill two birds with one stone... find a place for you so you stop paying rent and someone else's mortgage, and get started in real estate investing at the same time!

Let me know if you have any questions and we'll do all we can to help and get your questions answered and point you in the right direction :-)

@Tamara Rodenbeck

That's really hard to say... if only because the Phoenix area is SO HUGE. 

Seriously, it can take over a hour to drive from one side of the metro area to the other, and that's with no traffic.

The main consideration you want to keep in mind is proximity to your place of employment. Most people who are coming from other states and aren't used to commuting don't like it all too much after doing it for awhile. 

So once you've got that figured out, then you need to take into consideration things like price range, home size, school districts, etc. And so to try and name every B class area in the Phoenix metro area wouldn't be too helpful anyway. 

If you have a better idea of whereabouts in town you'd like to live, then I can point you in the right direction :-)

@Lisa Irimata

Welcome to BP! Glad you finally introduced yourself :-) Way to go on your first property!

If there's any questions you have about the Phoenix/Mesa market or any questions we can answer in general, feel free to reach out or post and we'll get you pointed in the right direction.

Best of luck!

@Steven Tucker

Here's what you need to do:

1) Get your strategy down pat. How are you going to find preforeclosures? What's your daily and weekly schedule going to look like? What contracts are you going to use? Have a system put together and know what you're doing before you do it so you don't make any mistakes.

2) Get together a list of buyers like @Bob Okenwa said. Get out to the REI meetings, network on here, reach out with people looking for flips. Have a lengthy list of serious A+ buyers so when you find a property you get it under contract with an end- buyer ASAP.

Best of luck :-)