CURRENT AS OF Feb 5th, 2008

Summary

February 3rd, 2008 - Glendale,  Arizona

Well, if for some reason you haven’t heard by now, the New York Giants won the 2008 Super Bowl here in Glendale, AZ. The upset was at the expense of the New England Patriots’ near perfect season, and what a game it was. With only a few minutes left on the clock in the last quarter, the Patriots scored edging them ahead. I was certain that the game was over at that point, as I’m sure most everyone watching was. But WOW! What a comeback! Those Giants whipped out a lead in the remaining minutes, taking the Trophy home to the East Coast. I’m not a huge sports fan, however, this was probably one of the best games I’ve seen in quite some time. Either the Patriots lost their ‘mojo’ in the 2nd half, or the Giants really stepped it up. The Patriots offense was making many mistakes, and could barely hold off the Giants’ aggressive defensive line. What a victory for both teams!  Now, let’s go do some deals…

Here’s an interesting presentation for you. If you don’t know who Elliot Pollack is, then you haven’t lived in AZ for very long. He’s a fairly large and well known Commercial Developer, especially here in the East Valley. He has put out some great data/presentations, as well as his outlook for 2008 and the Greater Phoenix area. Essentially, 2008 might see the bottom of the market- not much different than what we’re already seeing, prices may decline some, etc. However, he also agrees with the long term outlook for Arizona, that we remain strong for job and population growth. It’s a great market for building your net worth and retirement accounts!

Spend some time on his site, www.arizonaeconomy.com, there’s a TON of great info on there!

Hot off the wire! An Investor Group I know of has a package of 59 New Construction Homes under contract at 50% FMV all over the Valley. They are putting in $250,000 themselves, and are looking for an additional $9 Million for the rest of the funding. These homes are all from a single builder here in the Valley, who’s obviously dumping his inventory to stay afloat. The plan is to wholesale out the homes at 70-75% FMV and be completely out of the deal within 6 months. Here’s the facts I know in the moment…

• 59 New Construction Homes
• $9Mil required, will be secured by Title Reports, 1st Position Trust Deeds, and Fresh Appraisals
• Acquiring properties at 50% Fair Market Value
• Wholesaling them out at 70-75% Fair Market Value
• Total Holding Time: 6 Months Max
• Willing to pay points + return to funding entity
• Can assemble multiple investors for the take down, but would prefer just one or two

Most of the time you hear of these deals, they’re complete BS. However, I personally have known this investor for 7+ years, and feel confident in the deal. They’re looking to fund within 3 weeks, if possible. If you know anyone looking to get into this opportunity, please let me know ASAP.

I’ve been showing property all weekend to my relatives who are relocating down to Gilbert, AZ. They were looking for an Active Adult Community, 55+ with golfing. They love to golf, and Trilogy at Power Ranch has a beautiful coarse with very reasonable fees. We ended up making an offer on one property, which looks like it’s going to go through. However, throughout this process, we’ve come across quite a few motivated sellers who are looking to get their home sold NOW. Many of the agents I spoke with said that their clients would accept a much lower price in order to close quickly. I see some outstanding opportunities here for anyone looking to move into Trilogy. I’m shocked at the size and quality of home my clients are purchasing for less than $230,000. Every home we looked at was in excellent condition, ready to go. If you, or anyone you know, are considering purchasing in Trilogy, please contact me and I can assist in finding you a great deal.

I got a call from a competitor friend of mine about a deal he just landed. It’s always tough to work a deal from a competitor, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter where it comes from. All that matters are if the numbers work, and they certainly did in this deal. So I jumped on it. It looked like it would be a challenge, one I haven’t had in quite some time.

It was a 3/2, 1329 sf brick home, built in the 1960s. I typically never touch these older homes, but- it was less than 1/2 mile from Arizona State University, and the Fall Semester would be starting within a few months. I knew I had to capture the market for college kids, staff, or parents who would be purchasing this home. I figured most likely it would be parents buying it for their kids while in school, an investor looking to rent it out to college students, or young professionals who work in the area. It was about 1 mile from the freeway, and central to activities/restaurants, banks, etc. This thing had some potential to sell quickly, for a fair price. I had comparables in the area in the $250-270k range, depending on the upgrades in the home. I was shooting for $270k, yes, even in THIS market.

The house definitely had some problems. The roof was trashed, yard dead, single pane windows, broken doors, etc. The worse part was the family who had lived there for 13 years raised Chihuahuas. Yes, 13 of them, living in the home. It was THE MOST disgusting house I had seen out of the 200+ deals I’ve done. We found dog feces up underneath the kitchen cabinets (yes, under the base of the cabients- how the dogs got in there, WHO KNOWS!). The plumbing was backed up in certain areas, and this place was a dump. The biggest problem was that they had laid 4" Spanish tile throughout the entire house. Kitchen, bedrooms, closets- they even used it for baseboards! Oh, and the pop-corn ceilings. YUCK! The neighborhood wasn’t the best either- with vagrants floating through every couple of hours. This house backed right up to the back of a commercial strip mall too- with some fast food joints in there. The smell was horrendous from that alley! But, in this game, you have to see potential. Read the rest of this entry »

According to Jonathon Dalton, and his data from Arizona Regional MLS, Gilbert, AZ currently has the fastest absorption rate (11.61 Months) compared to other Maricopa County cities. When you look at Chandler, Tempe, and Mesa- there’s no arguing why I focus my investing in the East Valley. Here’s Dalton’s table.

UHHH! I can’t believe I missed this one! This past 2 weeks I’ve been super busy with other aspects of my life and business- but not looking for deals too actively. I’m in the middle of developing a new database for finding deals- and most of my time and attention has gone there (well, not to mention putting up Christmas Lights!) I just started lightly ‘grazing’ the MLS and I came across this beauty.

It was listed in MLS for just under $200k. 1700+ square feet, 4 bed, 2 bath cookie cutter home. In great condition (could use a little modernizing, but definitely livable). NOT in foreclosure, but the seller was over it and just wanted it sold now. The subdivision was very popular and well established, housing many upper-tier homes (not to mention man made lakes, waterfront properties, clubhouse with pools, tennis/raquetball courts, the works). Days on market in this subdivision are some of the lowest in Gilbert due to it’s popularity. Centrally located and less than 1 mile from the I-60- it doesn’t get much better than this!

It comps for $320k.

By the time I found this little gem, it had already sold. I can’t believe I missed that one. $120k in equity, in a great neighborhood. Unbelievable. So how motivated am I to get back on track and go find some others like it? VERY. And guess what- there’s PLENTY OF THEM OUT THERE! If you’re interested in sharing in the abundance of deals- contact me or sign up for my Deal Alerts and let’s make some money! Let’s just make sure to not miss any more like this one!