All Forum Posts by: Ryan Swan

It's really tough to find let alone buy solid duplexes now. You'd probably be using FHA financing and going up against cash offers, or Conventional financing with 25% down. I had another BP client that wanted a duplex and we wrote maybe 5 really strong offers but struck out on all of them. I encouraged him to pivot to a SFH house hack and we just closed about a month ago. My team has helped at least 3 other BP clients do SFH house hacks in the past 12 months as well.

As Bob mentioned, the House + Casita strategy is also very solid. We've helped buyers close on about 5 of these in the past 12 months. 

I just saw a stat the other day that the median metro home price is now around $450k, so use that number to kind of temper your expectations.  

Some flippers have a licensed GC they've worked with many times that maybe offers better pricing. That relationship maybe took a dozen or more deals. Other flippers will simply roll the dice and use a mix of licensed and unlicensed subs.

I also went to the Arizona School of Real Estate and Business. When I went it was the original campus in old town Scottsdale, but it has now relocated to a new campus near the 101 and Talking Stick. The classes are very straightforward and I didn't think the school or state tests were difficult, although A LOT of people have to take them more than once before passing. 

The classes teach you nothing about the business of actually being an agent and all the software you need to learn. That comes later when you join a brokerage and possibly a team. Definitely get a mentor or good team that can coach you on how to get started, otherwise you'll overwhelmed and not know where to start. 

Nice little project! Were the lots already zoned R3 or did you have to get them re-zoned? 

@Kerns Churchill the taxes are now paid through AZDOR rather than through each individual municipality. Check the AZDOR tax matrix to see if you are liable to pay taxes (it varies by city and number of rentals owned) 

@Christian Jerman welcome! glad to have you on the forums. Feel free to ask any specific questions and I'll point you in the right direction 

Maybe I'm confused but you've had the calendar blocked until July 25th? When was it open this spring? 

June and July are naturally lower booking months, while Jan-April (even May) are going to be peak season months. 

So possibly you missed out on the high season where you can build up bookings and reviews, and are now in low season without any traffic. 

@Justin Blue you should be closing on the property around end of May or early June, and then have it on the rental market soon thereafter. The housing market is getting more and more competitive, so most students are locking down their house for the next school year in early summer. 

@Brian G. the quality and features can vary dramatically. Some have nice house but a small or non-updated casita. Some have small house and casita. Some aren't in an ideal area or lack parking. You get the picture. 

The perfect "unicorn" properties have the right mix of house + casita + lot size + parking + location. 

A broad price range is $450k to $800k right now. 

Building is really expensive right now...probably approaching $300/foot. And this doesn't factor in all the plans, zoning, permitting, and interest costs. 

I can set up searches for them and know where the best areas are to look.