Monday, April 30, 2012
4601 N. 103nd Ave, #1039, Phoenix, AZ, 85037 PICS
The Link Title above will take you to a picture page that has the before pics of this property when we first acquired it. These are some of the after pics after our rehabilitation phase.
Cozy 2 bed 2.5 bath, 2 story condo. Main floor has living room with a fireplace, inside laundry hook ups with washer and dryer included, powder room and kitchen. Second floor has two bedrooms with connected two additional bathrooms. Nice condo. Complex is located across street from golf course and lake! Community pool and spa! Back of unit has patio. Lush green landscaping throughout complex! Parking in front of unit for easy access!Close to loop 101 and Westgate.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Friday, April 27, 2012
New Home Buyers Underwater
The prices of homes in most areas of the country are so precipitous that today you can almost start going underwater as soon as you purchase a house.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
The Cortesian sells for $26 Million
This is the type of property that we are setting as our goal to own and manage. Read the article about the sale by following the title link above.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Arizona Residential Landlord Tenant Act
This is a good layman's explanation of what people's rights are for renters and landlords. This version is written with the renters in mind but it's good for both parties.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Strength of your Password
The internet is the future of business and that will also open it up for criminals. This post links to a great site that will give you a tool that evaluates any current password that you have or helps you generate a very strong one. I'll also link it to my Link Hub.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Things To Do
This is my Things To Do List:
This is from one of Robert Kiyosaki's books(I've personalized it a bit for myself):
These are the goals that I've set for myself and my business.
-Seek to discover that little thing in our property management business that can be a big thing to our customers. I need to uncover and identify my gift.
-Select a business tactic and choose strategies to make it happen. Try to keep it simple and executable.
-Recognize that it is my job to focus on the mission and bring the B-I Triangle to life.
-The Midas Touch requires discipline. You can be a rebel, but understand that it will demand new levels of personal, financial and business responsibility.
-Be generous with my energy and success. Bring others along for the ride and reward them well. Property management is not a solo sport, it is a team effort.
-There are no little things, everything matters, so hire wisely and inspire your team with your vision. They will be the ones who carry it out and represent you.
-Think BIG, set your vision high and go for it. You'll have lots of people and obstacles in your way, work to get beyond them.
-Don't delay. Everyday that you work on your business without a vision, without a plan and without proving that it works is another day that you delay your success.
-Discover your true self and surround yourself with people who compliment your gifts and modes of operation.
-Commit to being a lifelong learner of studying successful businesses and people , to understand the little things that count in them.
-Design your property management business from the start so that it is leverageable, expandable, adoptable, predictable and financeable.
-Realize that an entrepeneur's most important gift to the world is jobs, security and the well-being of others.
-Recognize that the world needs more entrepeneurs. Everyone is counting on you.
Free Tenant Check Site
I like this site in order to check possible new tenants.
Gregorio Management Group LLC account:
Account name: GregorioMngtGp1
Password: adrian21
You can use this one or open one for yourself, it's free.
4601 N. 103nd Ave, #1039, Phoenix, AZ, 85037
This is the second rental property that was acquired by Gregorio Management Group LLC.
LegalZoom. com
This is a link when you are really serious and want to form your own company. It is very easy to interact with and they have a great help phone line to provide answers immediately.
Real Estate Market Update : March 23, 2012
I like following Christine Schroedel's Real Estate Market Update. She gives me a local voice in the housing market for the Phoenix area.
Rules of Money
Rules of Money
by Robert Kiyosaki
Rule of Money #1: Money is knowledge
Today, traditional assets do not make you rich or financially secure. You can lose money on businesses, real estate, stocks, bonds, commodities and even gold. Knowledge makes you rich and a lack of knowledge makes you poor. In this brave new world, it is your knowledge that is the new money.
Rule of Money #2: Learn how to use debt
After 1971, the US dollar switched from being an asset to being a liability-debt. Debt exploded because the banks could create more money by creating more debt. Our current subprime mess was caused by subprime borrowers and subprime banks. Obviously, both the poor and the rich need to learn to use debt, not abuse it.
Rule of Money #3: Learn to control cash flow
After the US dollar became debt, the name of the game was getting you and me into debt. When you are in debt, your cash flows from you to others. Today, many people are in financial trouble because they have too much cash flowing out of their pockets and very little money flowing into their pockets. If you are going to be financially secure, you need to learn to have more cash flowing into your pockets.
Rules of Money #4: Prepare for the bad times and you will only know good times
The last depression made some very rich and made some very poor. Some saw the depression as an opportunity and the others saw it as a crisis.
The baby boomers have only known good times. Many are not prepared for the bad times. By preparing for bad times, you will do well in good times.
Rule of Money #5: The need for speed
Money evolved from barter to digital money as the world's financial system picked up speed. Today, slow people are left behind. A well-positioned person can transact business 24/7. Rather than making money by the month, people can make money by the second.
Where are you?(please do not reply, this is fyi)
1. Are you being paid by the month, the hour, the minute or the second?
2. Are you earning money eight hours a day or 24/7?
3. If you stop working today, will money continue to come in?
4. Do you have multiple sources of income?
5. If you are an employee, are you working for an employer who is in business that is being left behind?
6. Are your friends and the family moving forward or being left behind financially?
Two friends were walking in the woods when a bear suddenly jumps out and quickly approaches them.
"Do you think we can outrun the bear?" one friend asks.
To which the other friend replies, "I don't have to outrun the bear. I only have to outrun you."
Due Diligence
Due Diligence - "Due diligence" is a term used for a number of concepts involving either an investigation of a business or person prior to signing a contract, or an act with a certain standard of care. It can be a legal obligation, but the term will more commonly apply to voluntary investigations. A common example of due diligence in various industries is the process through which a potential acquirer evaluates a target company or its assets for acquisition.
Due Diligence Checklist
-Current rent roster with paid to dates
-List of security deposits
-Mortgage payment information
-Personal property list
-Floor plans
-Insurance plans, agent
-Maintenance, service agreement
-Tenant information: leases, ledger cards, applications, smoke detector forms
-List of vendors and utility companies, including account numbers
-A statement of structural alterations made to the premises if any are made
-Surveys and engineering documents
-Commission agreement
-Rental or listing agreements
-Easement agreements
-Development plans, including plans and specifications and as-built architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical and civil drawings
-Governmental permits or zoning restrictions affecting development of the property
-Management contracts
-Tax bills and property tax statements
-Utility bills
-Cash receipts and disbursements journals pertaining to the property
-Capital expenditure disbursements records pertaining to the property for the past five years
-Income and expense statements pertaining to the property for two years prior to the submission date
-Financial statements and state and federal tax returns for the property
-A termite inspection in form and content reasonably satisfactory to the buyer
-All other records and documents in the Seller's possession or under the Seller's control which would be necessary or helpful ro the ownership, operation or maintenance of the property
-Market surveys or studies of the area
-Construction budget or actuals
-Tenant profiles or surveys
-Work-order files
-Bank statements for 2 years showing operating account for property
-Certificates of occupancy
-Title abstract
-Copies of all surviving guarantees and warranties
Write a Business Plan
This will link you to a ten point presentation about writing a business plan. A serious business will want one especially when it comes to borrowing money.
Investopedia
Investopedia. This is a great site to research for anything that has to do with investments and business. I keep this as a great reference site. I put a link on my Link Hub.
Credit Karma
This is a great FREE site where you can go and get your credit checked. There are no hidden fees like credit score. com, that is a pay site. Beware of that scam. I put a page link for Credit Karma.com on the right side of the page on my Links hub. ---------->
Friday, April 13, 2012
Trulia
Trulia. I like using this site to look at the local areas around a property that I'm interested in. It is a great research tool to see what the neighborhood is like. I put a permanent link on my Link Hub.
Welcome
Welcome to our new Blog. I want to use this as a place where I can put different articles, ideas, plans and everything else that have to do about property management. When you see a blog post that only has a title, just click on it to take you to the corresponding article or webpage. Enjoy!!!
Gloria and I were planning to wait until I was eligible for retirement. I will be eligible for a 20 year retirement from the Chicago Police Department on September 18, 2012 and will be able to start cashing in on my birthday, December 21st, 2012. I would then sell my house and with the equity we would then buy property in Phoenix, Arizona and had no real plans after that. We would just watch the world go by I guess.
I didn't originally plan on making a property management business and don't know exactly where it will take us but let's see where it goes. I was just motivated to do something back in 2008 after the presidential elections. I realized that 'things' were going to 'change' and not the way I wanted them to. I'm not going to make this a political forum so I'll end that train of thought there.
I knew that there had been a problem when I was told by a house appraiser that my house in Chicago was worth $355,000 dollars back in 2006 when I was refinancing for a lower rate that were available then. I saw that things had really changed from the time that I had originally bought it. I was only able to get it with a VA loan. Those are things that I plan to touch upon later in this Blog. Regardless of what the loan company said, I knew that that price was way over-inflated and that things like that never really happened. I decided to keep to my Conservative principles and just took out enough money to do some minor repairs around the house. I improved the property to the point that I could enjoy it.
Unfortunately, some of my neighbors and the part of the rest of the country didn't think the same way. People were buying homes that were way over-priced. Houses were selling on my blocks that were really not worth it. I was told that the real estate market was red hot and that I should sell my house and upgrade to a bigger place by real estate agents. I decided that I should stay were I was, in case things went wrong.
I had been told repeatedly that your house was an investment. It would continually go up in value. I think that most Americans did. I used my house as my major investment vehicle. I had bought stocks and was invested in several money markets. I was diversified or was I? I'll discuss that later (make sure you remind me).
The economy started to take a turn for the worse around 2006 after the elections. I just thought that things would adjust a little to where it should be. It did but did not stop, things were getting worse. I didn't think that there would be much that I could do, so I continued to pay bills and trustied in my nest-egg, my house.
In 2009, I decided that I would do a refinance of my house while it was still worth something and to out $60,000. I had a feeling that a storm was brewing and that I had to make a 'Plan B' since my original plan might be a washout. I went to Phoenix, Arizona were the housing market had crashed the year before and started looking at property there. A town called El Mirage, that had been desert just ten years earlier had many empty houses. Gloria and I looked at many houses while we were there to get a feel for the area. We spoke to many local real estate agents who were in a state of denial. They kept telling us that houses under $100,000 were not available and that there were only a few very inexpensive houses available. They were lying.
My sister Doris who lives in Surprise, Arizona saw a guy putting a 'For Sale Sign' in front of some property in El Mirage. He turned out to be a real estate agent, Dave Volking. We explained what we could afford and he sent us listings online for houses that had been foreclosed and we spent the next few months bidding. We were finally able to find one that we liked and were successful bidders, $60,000. We had a nice ranch 1088 sq ft house. We flew out and spent several weeks there getting it to living conditions.
It needed minor repairs and paint. We were able to spend within our $3000 budget to fix her up. We now had a house to live in when we retired. I wanted to keep it unoccupied until retirement. I had my parents and sister who lived nearby to look over the property. I kept a couple of plastic lawn chairs there and my parents enjoyed stopping by a few times a week and watching the US Air Force jets fly by from Luke Air Force base nearby.
Gloria was the one who came up with the idea that we should rent the house while we were waiting to move there. El Mirage kept stringent rules about renting, seems many of them were misplaced Chicago liberals. They wanted all rental property to pay city taxes for rent collected. I quickly learned an important lesson, government is an impediment to business. Our education was beginning, we needed to register with the county and state. The gave us a business license and the clerk asked us for our companies name. I made one up on the spot, Adrian and Gloria Rentals.
I was now in the business world and I had no idea what I was doing. We were making moiney renting the house and making a profit. I started to read books about renting properties. I used 'Rental Property for Dummies' as a starting guide and have read countless books on the subject. We would eventually formed our business and called it, Gregorio Management Group LLC. We are still doing business as Adrian and Gloria Rentals because it has a less cold corporate sounding name to it. We really are a mom and pop shop but we are highly motivated.
We have embarked on our new course and my life as a law enforcement officer is ending but Gloria and I have the rest of our lives to live. Let's see where this journey takes us.
I always liked the motto that the British SAS has, 'Who Dares Wins'.
We dared.
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