All Forum Posts by: Nate T.

Sounds good @Justin Owens, feel free to contact me with any questions.

This Mesa 4-plex has excellent cash flow!  The tenants are all long term, they have been there between 1.5 and 7 years.  The rents are low for the market (in 3 of the 4 units). 

You can see some photos here. The first 8 are from when it was vacant, and the last 7 are recent.

Here are the 2015 numbers:

PLEASE DO NOT DISTURB THE TENANTS.

I am a licensed real estate agent in Arizona, Geneva Real Estate, Realtor, Owner/Agent.

Sounds like you are cutting it pretty close. Sales often fall through or take longer than planned. If you exceed the 5 years then you have no more exemption, so I wouldn't wait until the end of the 5 years to sell.

Ideally have each tenant submit an earnest deposit along with their application and application fee. Make it equal to the first month's rent. Then if they're approved you only have to collect the security deposit at the time of signing. If they are not approved then the earnest deposit is refunded.

There was a really good BP podcast about student housing.  Looks like it was podcast 140.

If you are willing to live with strangers, that podcast or that presenter might have some good ideas to help you find tenants.

Are you renting out the individual rooms?  That is a great way to increase cash flow, but I think the 5% vacancy rate is too low.  Individual room renters can be more transitory than other tenants.

I actually had 4 roommates in a 5 bedroom house in Tempe when I was single.  I was renting to them for less per room than you are projecting, but it was in south Tempe, not near ASU.  

I never knew about the 3 unrelated people rule that @Ryan Swan mentioned.  Might be something to look into.

For the pool, just running the filter pump can add $50/month to your electric bill.  The actual service ranges from $80-110, or you can do it pretty cheap if you want to do it yourself.  There are also repairs to consider; seems like they're mostly related to the equipment or vacuum.  If you're not planning to do the service yourself, I have a good guy that I can refer who charges $85/month.

In my experience the City of Tempe does not go around looking for unpermitted additions. Unless you are trying to get a permit for something that's actually part of that unpermitted structure, or if that structure crosses a property line or something, it's unlikely to ever be an issue.

I have been with Geneva Real Estate for 7+ years and been happy.  The office is in Tempe near Guadalupe & McClintock.  When I switched to them I was looking for the lowest cost available.  They don't charge any commission split (i.e. 100% shop).  They charge $249/transaction plus $29/month.  No fee for leases, referral fees, retainer fees, etc.

There is not a lot of training or mentoring, they're more for someone that knows what they want to do and doesn't need too much help.

What kinds of rates and fees are these non conventional lenders offering?

If you are comfortable with a 6% return, there is an easier way to invest in real estate -- by lending your money to buy-and-hold investors. There are plenty of them who will be willing to pay 6% for as long of a time period as you want, and your money is secured by real estate, so it won't be disappearing anytime soon. And you could easily start with 20K, whereas trying to buy a property with 20K could prove difficult.