All Forum Posts by: Aaron K.

@Ben Riggs when I was graduating college all those "financial analyst" positions were 90% sell terrible mutual funds to people and earn commission, which I was not on board with from a moral perspective, as well as what I would like to do professionally.  The internship at this point is mostly so you have something to put on your resume, it doesn't really matter what it is, so if you can find something you enjoy do so.  All those financial analyst/ financial advisor positions will more or less take people with a pulse, a college degree, and the capability to pass the license exams, because they have to pay you nothing until you earn them money, so don't feeling like you're missing the best opportunity there.

@Tatiana Conta the 1% rule is a bad metric because it doesn't take into account other factors, it likely does not apply as much in Phoenix and part of the reason is that Phoenix is going to have lower expenses than many other areas of the country especially when it comes to insurance and property tax.  My advice is to run the math and get a good baseline for what the market will bear, and shoot for the right hand side of the bell curve.

@Michael Egan very and about nothing at the same time, it would be incredibly valuable if it were accurate, but if it were easily doable the big REITs and other players would be doing it or pay to make it private and just for them, so anything you could whip up in a weekend isn't going to cut it.

I like Redfin, at least for sales it is much cleaner data without all the FSBOs and auctions etc. that Zillow has

Yes in several asterisk situations, usually when they have power of attorney or if a home is in a trust or something like that and the original owner is now deceased, this is something for title to figure out.

Ask the city, or better yet the person doing inspections how backed up they are, how long it usually takes, etc.

Start small and work your way up, if you use your own funds that is one less excuse you can give yourself for not getting started, there are also a lot of legalities involved in raising money especially from strangers, larger multifamily inventory is low so you may have to go farther afield, and you usually make your biggest mistakes early so best to limit those to smaller amounts and your own money.

It doesn't add any real value, is it a liability? Maybe a little but not much, more so if it isn't permanent and you have tenants trying to change propane tanks or something, or if you live in an area where gas is not commonly used and someone lights themselves a fireball because they are used to an electric stove/ cooktop.  But the main reason not to do it is that it does not increase the rent or value of the property at all, so why do it?

@Gio Fuentes I do know a tax preparer, (DM for contact details) but with 1 property it isn't super difficult to do on your own with TurboTax.

@Firen Forrest

Realtors are happy to help but their time isn't free, so if you want good advice from one you may have to shell out a "consulting" fee or something similar.  When an agent hears someone say they want to build a relationship over the long run, the first thing that goes through their mind is usually "this person is never going to buy anything", especially when you are out of state and looking for a first property.  I'm not saying it is always the right way for them to think but that is what a lot do, especially in a market with a lot of out of state money, like SA.

For off market and on market for that matter it really depends on what type of property you are targeting and where it is, how big it is etc.  A lot of central San Antonio is built in the 30s and much has not been updated since so while you may be able to buy something for $90k it will take a lot to bring it back to a modern standard.

Again for asset protection I probably would look local to you, as what you want is advice at the moment and if they suggest a TX LLC or something else that needs to be done locally then go find someone local, because they very well may not suggest that.