Slum Lords

Hello everyone.  Brian here.  How long has it been.  2 years?  More?

I thought I would use this space to write about our latest life adventure.  Maybe writing about it will get some of the stress off of me.

Nina and I are buying a condo.  Not because we want to move out of our house and into a smaller space.  We are not selling our house.  We are buying a condo as an investment.

We started looking at investment properties last summer.  We were looking for a newer 3 bedroom house within a few miles of our existing house.  There were a lot of great deals last summer, and things were looking promising.  But then we got slow at work, and everyone at my company was forced to reduce to 32 hours per week.  That meant 20% less pay, and it meant that I didn't feel totally secure with my job situation.  So we put the house hunting on hold.  The reduced pay lasted 14 months.  Although it was super sweet to have Fridays off, the reduced pay was a bummer.  So when we went back to 40 hours in September, I was relieved.  Soon after, we started looking at houses again.  The problem was that now there weren't as many good deals as there were last year.  The prices had gone up about 25%, and the houses that showed up in our price range needed too much work.  So our agent suggested that we expand our search area and expand our search to include townhouses and condos.

About 2 weeks ago, we found a condo that seemed promising.  We decided on Friday of last week to put in an offer.  It's a bank owned, 2 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, 2 story condo in Phoenix.  The two bedrooms are upstairs, and each has an attached full bathroom.  It has underground parking, a pool, a spa, and it is about 1/2 mile walk from the light rail system.  The asking price is $69,900.  We offered $60,000.  Today we learned that another offer came in after ours, and it is higher.  The bank has countered at $67,000.  We can either take that offer, or they are going to go with the other offer.  So we decided that we will accept their counter.

Tomorrow we will accept the price, and then the fun begins.  Home inspection, securing the loan, finding homeowners insurance, and closing at the end of January.  After closing, the rest of the fun begins.  Renovations, advertising, finding renters, credit checks, background checks, and eventually, hopefully, receiving rent checks.

The renovations are very minor, except that we might end up replacing the kitchen cabinets and counter tops.  Luckily the kitchen is tiny, so it shouldn't be too bad.

It is a stressful thing that we are getting into here, but I think it's the right thing to do.  I want our money to work for us instead of sitting in a savings account earning 0.5% interest.  I want to do whatever we can to help us retire before we are 80 years old.  I think real estate is one way to reach that goal.  Real estate is so freaking cheap right now, and interest rates are so freaking low, I feel like its the right time to get into the game.

So wish us luck.  And if you know anyone who wants to rent a condo in Phoenix, let us know.



http://www.flexmls.com/share/4OLh/4330-N-5TH-AVE-219-Phoenix-AZ-85013