All Forum Posts by: Brad F.

Phoenix is just as bad or worse then you all describe. Almost impossible to get a sf without cash over list. We lost a HUD as owner occupant and bid 6k over list.

HI Joyce,

Me and my fiance handle the property management on our buildings too. She handles the rent collection and the tenant "people" issues, while I handle the building maintenance calls. The tenants never see us together and as far as they are officially told, we both work for the company that owns the building - no more then that. They can think whatever they want. I've always been told a good curtain between the owner and the tenants is a good thing to have.

We got riled up at first when we got a less-then-nice tenant call, and sometimes I worried about a maintenance problem spiraling out of control. As time has passed we both have gotten thicker skin and worry a lot less. I think it just takes getting used to. I try to remember how my property manager acted when I was in college, which was cold and legalese, and to act the same.

Good luck.

Aaron, how do you handle partial payment issues?

No, you are not too young. I started at 23 and am 24 now. In my experience, people will be surprised and not take you seriously at first. Once you can get some rapport with people you interact with, I think there is more respect given to you because of the fact that you're starting so young. Ultimately, knowledge is power and you can compensate with your lack of experience by learning more, faster about what you want to invest in. Leveraging the experience on this forum to start would be a good idea.

If I was to do it over again, I would start by buying my first, primary residence as a multiplex, three or four units. Not only does it let you live for "free", but you get property management experience as well.

And - make sure your credit is pristine.

Can this forum be made compatible with Tapatalk, the forum browsing app for Android? I use it on several other forums and it makes browsing on a mobile device much easier.

You need to not only comb through the tenants units, but have a talk with each one of them to see if they have any issues with the property. One of the best ways to find out about any deferred maintenance issues.

Look for seller financed deals if you want to accelerate your pace and can tolerate the leverage. Theres a few of us young people on here, welcome.

On an Android device, free wifi hotspot can be had by rooting and installing a free wifi tether app. No $25 charge, no cables.

Get a tech savvy relative or friend to help, or youtube [your device] root.

It is true. The data shows it and you can see it in the market. We are trying to get a house to actually LIVE in and the ones we have liked so far are gone within 24 hours. I thought it was bad a few months ago when we were buying multi. I am looking at the 80-200k range.

It [should] slow down as summer heats up, and the normal busy home buying season ends. From the data presented at our REIA meetings, it doesnt seem like there is much hidden supply to be tapped, so who really knows. The slow down will have to come from the demand side.

Typically breakeven is in 7-10 year depending where you fall in the tax bracket, states tax credit, your utilites REC purchase program and actual system performance.

It is also dependent on how well the system is sized for your home. If you are selling back power, you are wasting money.

My project cost was ~$27,000 installed and I ended up ~$8800 OOP when all was said and done for a 5.28kw system that is somewhat oversized for my home. The thought was that I was going to eventually get an EV, but I decided I should buy another SFH while the market is good. The easiest way to do that is to move, for now. My electric bill now is right around $17/month because of the grid connection fees. I am banking about 4/5ths of the power I am generating right now to use in the summer, some of which was slated for an EV will be sold back.

Off-grid solar systems are an expensive beast that should be avoided as a sole energy solution unless you have tens of thousands to waste away.

Lease to own is dependent on how you set it up. Friend of mine just did it and his "lease" is slated to go up 3% a year for 20 years. Benefit is after 20 years, it will probably cost more to come and get the equipment and repair the roof then its worth, so there is a chance you will get to keep it. I prefer to own the asset, but then again I am a RE investor :).

The neighboorhood I own in, the production "green" houses are essentially standard issue. A few production builders are actually selling the majority with built in PV, and the rest come pre wired for it. This isn't some hippie-hood either, it just is becoming common practice around here.