All Forum Posts by: Geoff V.

I'm pretty sure turning the heat on isn't enough. I remember my family house having a pipe burst, while we were living in it, during an extended cold snap. We usually didn't get that cold, and not for long when we did, so it was a surprise when a pipe in an exterior wall burst.

Seems safer in general to just shut the water off as Rob suggested.

Thanks for organizing this, and in most cases I would jump on it. I am already trying to figure out how to be two or three places at once that afternoon though.

Just responding to let you know my not going is certainly not from lack of interest.

Thanks for the quick replies! I'll make calls today.

Thanks again,

Geoff

Heya guys,

I need to have a couple of locks on one of my houses re-keyed, and have never gone through the process before. Any recommendations on who to use, how much it should cost, things to watch out for, etc?

This is in the Chandler area.

Thanks!

Geoff

@Scott E. That list seems pretty reasonable. I've been looking around downtown Chandler. You've left that off your list, is that due to you not knowing the area, or is something around there causing you to not be interested?

Thanks!

@Jerry K. I've been reading up on this area of investing a lot, and found the actual numbers and insight you provided very interesting. Thank You!

I'll have to go look for the post you did this year. (I only just noticed this due to keyword hit on Maricopa)

A quick question. My understanding of Arizona tax liens was that after 5 years you could skip the foreclosure and move straight to getting a deed from the treasurer. I've tried looking around a bit for more information, but couldn't really find anything on it. Is my understanding on this flawed?

Hey Mark, welcome to Bigger Pockets.

I've been lurking and reading a lot, and am in a similar situation (SW engineer in Phoenix looking for first buy and hold) as you. If you're looking to bounce ideas around, I'd love to connect with others in the area. I've found that most of my friends hate talking about investing.

There were talks of an East Valley meet up, but I think it fizzled.

@Serge S. I may have to just duck in for a few minutes, but I would love to meet people in the area and could do the Wednesday Starbucks without a problem.

I'm still in the 'read everything' phase, but I would love to see an east valley meetup, get a chance to meet and talk to others in the area with similar goals.

All my friends eyes seem to glaze over whenever I talk about investing.

First, thanks for all the replies, they've given me a lot to think over.

Answers:
The market in the area is where I got the 1400-1600 numbers from. We have a real estate agent friend that said he'll help us get the number nailed down when we are ready to start.
I've seen a for for rent signs go up, and come down again within a few weeks, which is a good sign I guess.

Finance:
PITA will be no where near covered on the house. We bought a new house at roughly the same level, for a lot less. I'm considering it a wash if we can cover the PITA on the new house, until we are able to sell the old.
I owe ~280K on the house, it's worth ~200K. At the peak, it was worth ~400K.

I have about 10-15K put aside for emergencies that can be tapped. I'm aiming to spend 2-3K to get it ready. I've been living in it, and taking care of all but minor stuff, so I think that's doable. Higher end flooring may cost a bit more, but we have a decent enough income to cover a lot if need be.

Flooring:
I am leaning towards hardwood in the living room, and maybe the office. I'll price it out.

Lease:
I was going to start with a standard one and alter it a bit. My wife's an attorney, so she should be able to help out a bit (and make those student loans pay off more =;-P)

Questions:
NOLOs Landlord Legal Guide and PM for dummies were mentioned. Any other books I should put on my list?

Is it common to get a home warranty or something similar for rentals?

Thanks!
Geoff