Arizona based newbie vet looking to connect

[Derek Jackson]

My name is Derek. I spent 5 years on active duty in the US Army as an intelligence officer before moving back to the East Side of Phoenix. I'm married, have an almost 3-year-old son, and I'm incessantly focused on how I can replace my income, and become completely financially free while my kid is still young.

We bought our home up in Lacey, WA, and sold it before moving back here 3 years later. We purchased the 5 bed 3 bath 2700 square foot home that we are currently living in but will be renting it out next month. And we'll be moving into a 3 bed 2 bath in South Gilbert. Everything I've done has been on VA loans (since my wife and I are both veterans, we have dual VA benefits).

Now I'm reading a ton of books, listening to Podcasts, analyzing deals, and trying to get ready to dive into more rental properties and other real estate investments.

I've noticed that it seems like the entire Phoenix metro area is extremely competitive and it's difficult to find anything that remotely resembles a "good deal" for a rental according to any of the benchmarks.

Regardless, I'm not deterred. I'll find something. Data analytics is a game the government trained me for, so I know I just need to be patient.

I'd love to connect with anyone, but especially with people who are local to the Phoenix market or have expertise in this market.

[Ryan Swan]

@Derek Jackson thanks for yours and your wife's service, and welcome to BP! Metro Phoenix has a robust and competitive real estate market...most "deals" require value add eg - buy with cash/hard money for a discount, put more money into property, then sell for a profit or refinance and keep as a long term investment. 

The VA program is awesome and a great way to reward veterans with the privilege of a 0% down mortgage. The flip-side is that if you put 0% down, you really don't "own" the building and thus it would be unreasonable to expect any cash flow without having any equity. As you're probably finding on your analysis, it's tough to even get cash flow with 5-10% down...you really need to get in the 25%-35% down range to start seeing cash flow across SFH/MF properties.

If possible, you might want to explore refinancing out of the VA loan on your old primary residence so it frees that up to use again for another 0% to low down primary residence purchase. Remember a VA loan is one of only two easy ways to get your foot in the door of a 2-4 unit MF property without needing to put 25% down. It's tough to find one to live in once you have a wife and kid in tow, but not impossible to find a comfortable property for you to live in in East Mesa or parts of Chandler.