All Forum Posts by: George Mevawala

@Caleb Augustyn you can get started by going either way to be honest. You can either find a mentor and try and learn as much as possible from them and pick up some hours either interning for them for some real life real estate experience while finishing college, OR  pick a real estate school to take the classes either online or in person ( I recommend the arizona school of real estate and business ) and in person as you will get more out of the classes from the in person engagement.

Then start researching and calling all the local firms in town and request to meet with the brokers. Let them know you are a college student in process of getting your real estate license but as eager as possible to learn the ropes and you will definitely be able to find somebody that wants a motivated and eager to learn professional on the verge of being licensed. I think you will be fine going either path, good luck!

@Lance N. absolutely. Are you working with a realtor yet? I am a buyers agent that specializes in short term rentals and vacation rentals. More than happy to be of assistance.

@Caleb Augustyn glad to hear about the spark you have to learn about real estate Caleb, you are getting started at the perfect age! My name is George and I am an Investor/ Realtor in the Phoenix/ Scottsdale market that has over a dozen investment properties now and also manages a fleet of over 25+ STR properties. More than happy to connect and answer any questions you may have! I graduated from Arizona State University back in 2010, and it has been quite a wild ride this decade getting my feet wet in real estate.

I started in commercial real estate but ventured into residential a few years ago when I started buying some value add opportunities that brought in stable cash flow and realized my heart was in helping people find the perfect residential property for them. If I was to give some advice, it would be to educate yourself as much as possible on here with all the different investment strategies, the different financing options, and also do not be afraid to reach out to people or post back on posts you find interesting. There are no dumb questions ever, and the entire BP community respects every eager person that is interested to further their knowledge in real estate investing.

I tend to invest in "value add" properties, which are properties that you walk into that may at first glance look like they filmed a horror movie in, but have A+ locations that I can budget a remodel ( new floors, cabinets, granite countertops, paint, showers, etc..). Then be sitting on instant equity once the remodel is complete and the house is appraised. The difference gained is known as  "equity" and I tend to feel good of sitting on a bare mimimum of 30k once the project is complete. This is my strategy and is fairly simple, but has helped me obtain several homeruns over the year, and also works in both down and up markets.

The ability to pull this off means you are going to have to identify the right properties that are currently under market value and come in aggresive with the purchase price. In Phoenix, the market has gone up quite a bit in the last several years, but we are still a very healthy housing market with low property taxes and over 250 people a day moving here. Lots of growth and job opportunities in the valley. More than happy to answer any questions you have!

Best,

George Mevawala

I am interested as well... Any chance this is going to spread to any other Vegas counties such as Clark? I specialize in STR properties in Arizona, but definitely have my eye on Henderson now.

@Melissa Romano amen! I love the one bedroom play. They perform like champs.

@Pope Lake the time to invest is always now.. There is always a deal out there. I recommend looking into value add investing. If you are in it for the long haul and if the cash flow on the deal pencils or will pencil once you add some value, than appreciation should just be looked at as a "bonus". Just my two cents and hope it helps.

@Tommy Kerwick Jr. I have a diverse fleet of 23+ units in the Phoenix market, mostly in Scottsdale. We do very well out here ( being one of the top STR markets in the nation). I average 25% + annual cash on cash returns and on avg 89% occupancy. Feel free to reach out for any additonal information!

@Andrew Narsi should be able to help you out with this question @Jena Richards. He is one of the sharpest lenders I know, and sounds like something he will have a solution for if you want to pick his brain.

@Mike Dymski From your own words, "lets not mistake the past", I went ahead and corrected the spelling of mistake***, I blame my OCD ... I will start this off by saying in no way, shape, or form do I think that Phoenix or any city for that matter is recession proof, or that that there will not be a "pull back" at some point, but I am stating that our local economy supports the growth that we have been seeing, and it does not take a telescope to see that we are one of the fastest growing cities in the nation.. Do you not remember that it was NOT just Phoenix and Scottsdale that experienced a significant pullback/ housing crisis... Last time I checked it was just about every major city in the nation felt the repercussions.. Let’s not forget San Diego, Miami, Charlotte, Las Vegas just to name a few major other cities that fell hard that have now bounced back..... You could have picked up condos and foreclosed properties for quarters on the dollar all across the country, I remember feeling the storm of the recession in major cities such as Houston & Dallas, even if it was not quite to the extent of Phoenix or  Miami..

As we sure all know, it had nothing to do with the city of Phoenix itself, but rather the lenders across the country that were giving out loans to every Tom, Dick, & Harry that had a drivers license... These Countrywide/ unethical lenders were originating loans like hot cakes, and taking advantage of an already out of line situation, and last I checked giving 500k loans to applicants that were making under 30k a year & nowhere near qualified is quite unethical. Hence, the icing on the cake for how the bubble burst. I think stating that Phoenix was the "epicenter" of the last housing crisis is pretty far stretched. From my understanding, Greenville pricing has gone up quite significantly from where it was at back in 2009. I know Charlotte hit rock bottom back in 2011 and pricing has since stabilized, so I would say any American city is just as prone to a downward cyclical risk as Phoenix or any other city in the nation..

The difference from 2007, if you fast forward to 2019 is that it is NOT an easy process to get a loan whether you are a first time buyer or a seasoned investor such as myself.. The process is very detailed and tedious, and this is something that makes me happy as it puts some shield on filtering out the buyers that are not yet qualified (side note- I am routing for every single prospective buyer to get qualified, and nothing brings me more happiness than when first timers makes that leep into becoming a homeowner.. Patience is a virtue and nobody should ever get discouraged, I remember being there).  Althought various people may find this frustrating, we did learn some of our mistakes from last time.... This along with already very low lending rates gives me some reassurance that we are heading in the right direction. Not to mention some of the valid points that @Jared Smith has made to reassure that Phoenix may just have a healthy life ahead of it..

Just my $0.02 for whatever it is worth...

@Melanie Johnston thank you for the kind words! Yes I am, I have a few spread out throughout the Valley, but this one was a blast to design!