All Forum Posts by: Brandon Beren

Hi @Daniella Lamis! Thanks for reaching out! I'll get in touch with the PM for introductions. Still getting the nitty gritty details on financing, to see what I have to work with, then I can really start to talk deals. Cheers!

Hey All,

I'm an Arizona native living overseas, but itching to get back into investing. I'm living the UK for work, but the market here is pushing out of my limits, especially with the way lenders here are working with non-permanent residents atm, and all my capital is also in the US. I already know the Greater Phoenix area very well, have family there, and contractors I trust, so I'd like to keep things rolling there while. 

I'm looking for lenders who work with individual with foreign sourced income, real estate agents who work with investors, and a trust worthy property manager. I worked with one manager long distance, but I wasn't very pleased during times of tenant turnover. 

For context, I'm focused on buy-and-hold and BRRRR.

Cheer!

I'd have to agree with the previous comments. I was born in Mesa and have lived all over Scottsdale, Mesa, and Tempe. ASU grad! There is really a great variety in what sort of rentals you'll get in different areas. It varies around ASU, street to street in areas, but could allow you to maximize your rent at the cost of maintenance, due to college students. If you are wondering where many students tend to live from South Scottsdale down to south of the 60, PM me. ASU uses things like Orbit transit shuttles among other offerings which snake around different areas giving you higher concentration of students around them. There are also spots scattered around where some tech hubs/office buildings have sprung up which will give you young professionals with disposable income. Just check the numbers, amenities, localized demographics. I moved to England about 2 years ago, so I'm sure it has had more things spring up since. As mentioned before, drive neighborhoods you're interested in and you'll get a petty quick idea of demographics and compare with stats and school ratings online. Anyway, I hope that doesn't give you too much analysis paralysis. 

@Johnny McKeon I'm a Phoenix native, now living in England. I'm putting my core 4 for the Phoenix area back together after moving several years ago. I just saw you post about Chad Cooper inspecting your property. I used to work with him in Gilbert and he inspected my Tempe home a couple years ago. Small world out there. Are you managing the property yourself or using a company? Congrats on this deal, albeit a little late to the party on the congratulations.  

Investment Info:

Single-family residence other investment in Tempe.

Purchase price: $175,000
Cash invested: $35,000
Sale price: $320,000

3bd 2ba, 1075sqft, single family home, renovated into 4bd, 3ba, 2 kitchen home. This was a combination of house hack, buy and hold, then sold. Bought the property on an FHA loan, with dated interior and a single car garage on the back in addition to the regular 2 car garage on the front. Converted the 3rd car garage to a mother-in-law suite and rented it while I lived there. Rented out the entire property in 2019 after moving to England, then sold it in 2020.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

The 3rd car garage in the rear wasn't livable space and so not included in the sqft of the property. Since it was well within my budget it was a no brainer for me to buy and convert that to livable space, instantly injecting equity.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

I worked with a local Real Estate agent.

How did you finance this deal?

FHA Loan and cash for rehab.

How did you add value to the deal?

Added about 400sqft buy converting a 3rd car garage to a mother-in-law suite with a full kitchen.

What was the outcome?

I rented the suite for 750/mo while living there, then 1650/mo for about a year, and sold it on for a healthy profit.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I gained many homeowner skills, being a first time home buyer at the time. I also had a loose contract with a contractor that walked out of a renovation before finishing. I learned how to install a toilet, sink, and backsplash on the plus side. If I could reverse time, I probably would have kept the property which has a cash flow of over $300/mo after the first year, and just pulled equity out of it to make it a BRRRR in the end.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Alex Eremija (real Estate Agent when I bought), Martin Piñion (during the sale), Curtis Harkrader (Contractor - not the one who walked out)