Need A CPA

Can anyone recommend a good CPA in the Phoenix metro area? Preferably, one that is a real estate investor or has lots of REI client...

House 3: Photos and Fix Up List

I met up with my handyman this morning to go over my list of things that need to be done. Here's my list:Whole House Trash outNew paint inside and outNew A/C ventsReplace mini-blinds / vertical blindsRemove drapesNew linoleum where there is existing linoleum except hallway.Replace all electrical outlets, light switches, and plates. Front Room New front...

House 3: Lots O' Trash

I went out to the property this morning to meet with the locksmith to have the locks re-keyed. The house was in the usual quick-move-out state - lots of trash left all over. There was clothing and furniture left everywhere, an old car left in the backyard (which was supposed to have been taken away), etc. I'll post some pictures later.The house itself isn't in too bad of shape. It needs paint, walls patched, and virtually all the outlets, light switches,...

House 3: Vacant!

Just got word from Joe that he received a message yesterday from the seller that she found a truck and would be out of the house by 11 PM. Not sure if she meant 11 PM yesterday or 11 PM today. Joe is trying to get confirmation but says she never answers her phone. Looks like the thought of paying rent motivated her a bit - which was the pl...

House 3: Update

I got a message from Joe, the person who assigned me his contract on this house, that the seller was unable to move out by yesterday. Apparently, there was a mix up with U-Haul and they did not have a truck for her. They said they would have one Tuesday and therefore, she could be out by Wednesday. There was also a chance one would become available later today and she could be out by tomorrow, Tuesday.Not good. I told Joe I would have to start charging...

House 3: Escrow Has Closed

I am now officially the owner of the property! The escrow company called me and told me everything has been recorded. I'll head over there later today and pick up copies of the finalized documents and a key to the property.The seller responded to the questions my insurance agent asked:The plumbing has not been updated in the time the seller has lived there (since 1995).A new circuit breaker box was installed last year.The roof was replaced about...

Prosper.Com - An Easy Way To Become A Hard Money Lender?

The Savvy Saver blog has a post about a new web service - Prosper.com. This site matches people who needs loans with people who want to lend money. If you need money, you post the amount you need and what you want it for. If you are lending money, you scan the listings of people needing money and, when you find one you like, you can offer to loan a certain dollar amount at whatever interest rate you want. The site will pool money from different...

House 3: Papers Signed

I made the trip to the title office this morning and signed all the paperwork and dropped off a cashier's check. Now the seller has to go in and sign and the deal will be done! I found out the seller is a hairdresser, so she's walking away from this deal with the equivalent of 2 years salary. Nice.I also called the utility companies and had service transferred to my name, effective tomorrow.I got a call from my insurance agent, who had some questions...

Money Magazine's Foreclosure Article

There is a fairly good article about foreclosure investing on Money Magazine's website. I tend to agree with most of what they say, although the article, like all mainstream articles I've seen about foreclosure investing, plays up the negative aspects of the industry. Unfortunately, there is also a huge mistake in the article, from a source that should know better.Talking about buying at foreclosure auctions, the article says: Auctions are by...

House 3: Purchase Moving Forward

I finally got in contact with the escrow officer this morning. He doesn't have a dollar amount for me yet because he is still trying to contact the seller to get her payoff amount. Once he has that, I can bring a check over and sign everything. I had to fax him my LLC's Articles Of Organization. This is a standard request, so I had copies ready and faxed them over a minute ago.I emailed Joe to see if by any chance he got an SPDS from the seller yet....

House Purchased!

I'm back in action again! I was out grocery shopping with my wife on Sunday morning, when I got a phone call from Joe, the person who emailed me last week about a house he had under contract. That deal had fallen through when the seller cancelled the contract. The house was now available again.I drove out to look at the property that afternoon and after that, met up with Joe. He suggested we meet at a Starbucks in Scottsdale and, when I got there,...

Zillow.com - Amazing Real Estate Site!

Wow! Seattle Eric alerted me to this new site called Zillow.com that was created by the founder of Expedia. Basically, it's another real estate comp site - but this is much, much better than anything I've seen before! It looks like they've combined comps with Google maps to give you a satellite view of the neighborhood with home values superimposed. Click a house to get details about it. This gets my vote for best use of the Google Maps.This is still...

Passed On Mobile Home

Saturday afternoon, I went out to check the mobile home. It was quite a strange place. The unit was a singlewide and they took off one side and built on to basically make it the same width as a doublewide. The wood on the outside looked old and could have possibly had dry rot. A couple windows were broken and some of the light fixtures had broken inserts. The place was filled with boxes and the owner told me she had been packed since September. There...

Mobile Homes? (Updated)

Man, I can't tell you what a great feeling it is to get up in the morning, check your email, and find an offer for a property that will provide you with an instant $30,000 in equity!That was what I found this morning when I checked my email. The same person who sent me the offer yesterday (which another investor snatched up before me) sent me another one that he was passing on. It looks good to me, but the only issue is that it is a mobile home....

A Deal Via Email

I got home from my day job yesterday and found an interesting email waiting for me. The sender had a house under contract and was looking to assign the contract to an investor. The package I was sent was very well put together - it included color pictures of the property (inside and out), property address, assessor parcel number, building details, comps (both recently closed sales and active listings), a list of repairs / improvements that need to...

Phoenix Area Rich Dad Forum Members Get Together March 23 - 26

Erin Morgan and Russ Herschelmann, emorgan26 and home_theater_guy on the richdad.com forums, have organized a get together for other Phoenix area investors. The event will feature talks by local investors and opportunities to network. Les Gee will also present his acclaimed REST workshop (additional fee applies).Registration is limited to 25 people (which is now down to 23 since my wife and I have registered) and the cost is $58 per person. Details...