New investor in Gilbert, Arizona

[Paul G.]

Hi all! My name is Paul, and I'm a relatively new investor in the Arizona Area.

I'm an engineer and would love to start dabbling on the side in RE.

I currently have one investment property (condo) in the Mesa area that my buddy and I picked up in 2013. We had no idea what we were doing, but were fortunate enough to play hockey with a real estate agent who taught us quite a bit up front. As our first condo, I think it worked out pretty well, and so we're ready to expand and pick up another 1 (or 3) :).

We had a terrible time trying to get funding on the condo (we were trying to come in with a conventional loan at the time that people were snatching up condos in cash), which is one of the reasons why I'm coming to BP.

I'm pretty risk averse, so my strategy is definitely buy and hold. I like the Condo market because there is less to worry about (lawn maintenance, roof, etc). I want to stay in the east valley (Ahwatukee, Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa, Tempe). My goals are to start small and try and build my buy and hold portfolio before I venture out into the most risky markets. I'm not looking for RE to take over as my primary job, just a hobby on the side that can provide some extra money each month. Then, in a couple years (and a couple properties later I hope), I can reassess where I am in life and figure out where I want to go.

I'm looking to get ideas from Bigger Pockets about ways to finance, tips and tricks to finding the right properties, and definitely networking with people in the area.

[Account Closed]

Welcome and good luck, Paul.

I like condos for the same reason you do. I just picked one up a few months ago that's cash flowing nicely. It was a pre-forclosure, granted, I may have gotten a better deal else where, but I know the complex, the HOA, and they do a nice job of taking care of the place. It needed quite a bit of work, but once it was rent ready, I listed it on the MLS; I am an agent, I had a three or four showings in the first couple of days and had an application come in shortly thereafter that I approved.