All Forum Posts by: Benjamin Riehle

@Sid Leibowitz

I appreciate you putting in your input. What I mentioned is that it is quite difficult for some people in the millennial generation to buy a home but there are ways to finance a home creatively. Although a certain number of people will qualify, there will always be some that do not. That is true with any situation in Real Estate. This post was intended to shed light on other opportunities that millenials, ages 18-34 (myself included), have when it comes to home buying. I hope that can clear things up! 

It wasn’t too long ago when I posted about large companies like Caterpillar and Raytheon bringing thousands of jobs to Tucson. Yesterday, yet another company, Lucid Motors, announced that they would be heading to Casa Grande, located in Southern Arizona. The manufacturing plant that they plan to build there will provide an initial 400 jobs this year, and they project to have 2,000 workers in the near future. This move compliments the potential that Arizona had when the states Governor Doug Ducey stated "It's a real sign that the state is attractive, that California companies and companies from around the country see Arizona as a great place to do business.”

As we see many companies heading to Southern Arizona, it is a very promising sign for the housing market in the Sonoran Desert. As long as more and more jobs keep heading to Southern Arizona, that has the ability for very healthy, and consistentlrising home prices. As long as this keeps up, demand for homes will rise and the prices will follow.

Southern Arizona is on the rise and the real estate market will see substantial changes! The area is great and I cannot be more excited about the direction of the Old Pueblo!

My dream when I went off to college was to live for free, and achieve the American Dream of owning my own home. In 2007, I bought my first house in Tucson, AZ. I rented out three of the rooms and at 18 years old I was on the way to owning my own home, and was living for free.

Today, I was looking at an article asking the questions, do millennials still want to achieve the American dream of buying their own home? The answer is a definite yes. According to data, 66% believe that they will own a home within the next 5 years. They are facing significant problems with 62% of millennials having less than $1000 in their savings account and a student loan debt on average of $40,000. The numbers are not in favor for millennials to put a conventional down payment on their first house.

While that is not a promising sign, there are a number of conventional and non-conventional options that can help millennials achieve the American dream. First, down payment assistance programs like the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loan, and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) mortgage program make the price of an initial down payment even easier for millennial. Another way millennials are able to buy houses is through a down payment assistant program. This is provided through local governments and can include grants, tax credits, and second mortgage loans.

With all of these resources, millennials are not far away from achieving the American dream. While the resources listed above are not conventional in home buying, they are beneficial. Millennials do not need to follow the “norm” of paying rent month after month. Instead, they can achieve the American dream at an extremely young age by using resources at their fingertips.

Hey Kurush,

Would love to connect and discuss the Tucson market. Feel free to reach out any time to discuss!

http://www.tucsonnewsnow.com/story/33765477/ua-tec...

This is another great article about how the UofA is trying to keep the talent coming out of the school in the local economy. 

It was just announced that Raytheon is expanding its presence in Southern Arizona and plans to add 2,000 new jobs over the next 5 years. In a recent article posted by Tucson News Now Arizona Governor Doug Ducey was quoted, “Just more proof that Southern Arizona's economy is on fire”. The article goes on to outline a report by the Governor’s office detailing other major companies who have announced expansion and growth plans in the region, “Home Goods new distribution center added nearly 1,200 jobs. The Comcast regional service center added another 1,500. Caterpillar, a Fortune 500 company will bring another 600 high paying jobs. And with Raytheon's five year expansion plans, another 2,000.” The article concludes with a final quote from Governor Ducey, “We can sit at the table with any company and any CEO and compete." he said. "Tucson is attractive and can win in this game”

Since moving to Tucson in 2007 to attend the University of Arizona (UA) it was clear that the city did not want to compete and had no desire to attract companies that could bring substantial job growth. Over the past few years this mentality has shifted, growth appears to be encouraged and the local government is ‘playing the game to win’ and winning they are. The cost of living is extremely low, the climate (outside of a few 110 degree days) is wonderful, and the UA produces what seems to be a never ending talent pool of young professionals. With the local government now on board it is no wonder so many companies are jumping at the opportunity to grow their businesses here.

As job growth occurs and more and more well-paying jobs become available there are going to be substantial changes in the real estate market in Tucson. Undoubtedly, demand will increase and home prices will follow suit. However, what is unique to Tucson is the untapped potential of so many neighborhoods and barrios that are located in the heart of the city. They have never received the capital injection necessary to modernize and improve. There are countless neighborhoods near downtown Tucson and close to the UA that from a location perspective are unrivaled. Over the next three years these neighborhoods are going to see rapid growth. Property values are going to increase, and entire neighborhoods will be transformed.

Tucson is waking up! What once seemed like a mid-sized city trapped in a small town frame is finally starting to understand its identity. I fell in love with Tucson shortly after moving here and could not be more excited about the growth and direction for the community as a whole!

Source: Tucson News Now

Source: Apex News

Click here to see video of Property Remodeling

I am excited to share pictures and information on a flip project my team just completed on Hawthorne Street in Tucson, Arizona. We began this project earlier this year and turned this old school property into a modern dream home. It was just listed on the MLS for sale by our in-house sales team and we are expecting offers soon!

This property was purchased for $130,000, remodel cost was 82,000 and it is currently listed on the MLS for $285,000.

All remodel work was performed by my teams in-house licensed construction company and was done in little over 3 months.

If anyone would like to discuss the project or learn more about my team please send me a message 

Best,

If you do a cash-out refi make sure to understand the fees and points you are being charged. May not be worth the refi if they wrap up $3,000 in fees to process the loan. 

Do you know your current cap rate pre-mortgage? Quick calculation to calculate your cap rate is:((Yearly rental income) X .65 (this is your expense multiple))/(What you would like to sell the property for)

For Example: if you rent the two units for $1,000 a month total. $12,000 per year X .65 = $7,800 and you want to sell the property for $100,000 then it would be $7,800/$100,000 leaving you with a rough cap rate of 7.8%

There is no reason you cannot sell a rental property with tenants in place. Actually, the investment market in Tucson is the strongest I have seen. I would with a number of buyers who only consider purchasing properties that have tenants in place. 

Hope this helps!

I wanted to share my thoughts on an article that I recently read in the Harvard Business Review. The article discussed the current job market, and how the lifetime career model is disappearing. The central focus of the article is how the 20 year job with a retirement plan and a pension is practically gone, and the gig economy is now taking over the market place. In this new high speed, fast-pace world you cannot expect to work for the same company your entire life. This holds especially true for millennials searching to get their foot into the job market, and have not been able to find their place in the old model.

This results in the need for everyone to begin looking for ways to earn passive income to adapt to the new gig economy. Real estate investment is quickly becoming a necessity to provide a secure retirement and pension plan for an entire generation. Rebelling from the status quo and looking for alternatives from the traditional career path allowed me to discover real estate investing at an early age. At 18, I purchased my first investment property, which allowed me live for free in college. This passive income helped me as I started out in life, and very soon after allowed me to purchase my second property. This creation of passive income allowed me the financial freedom to grow my real estate business and find secure footing in the new economy. As this trend continues it is critical that the millennial generation understands that although the 20 year career path is extinct there are opportunities available that will provide a greater level of financial freedom and will not require 20 years to accomplish.

(Source: Harvard Business Review)

There are a lot of investment opportunities in pockets around the University that have not been fully exploited. We are still finding a lot of deals in pocket neighborhoods around UofA. There are two streets north of campus that we have done 14 student rental conversions, turning rundown 2 and 3 bedroom houses to fully remolded high end student rentals with additional bedrooms and living square footage added.

There is also substantial opportunity in the older neighborhoods near downtown that have yet to be revamped. My investment fund just acquired 12 distressed homes in a neighborhood within a mile of downtown that we expect to provide substantial returns from rental income as well as asset appreciation. 

Next time you come to town let me know and we can link up and Ill give you tour!