Confused And Out Of State
I own some rental property in Phoenix, AZ (4 SFRs) since 1992. It is an essential part of our retirement portfolio. The original plan was: pay them off for the retirement income. However, in the 12 years, we never got a penny out of them, but did occasionally put some money in for the bigger repairs. The equity in all four build up to approx. $200K. I decided to trade them up. I traded one for a 4-plex (sold – $72K, bought- $217K in 1031 exchange).
The current situation:
Prop.#1 SFR, trashed by evicted tenants, MV $100K, Equity approx. $40 will take about $8K to fix. (vacant, no income for 3 mo)
Prop. #2 SFR. Tenant of several years wants lease, option to buy. Have to make a decision very soon. (Equity approx.$100K)
Prop. #3 Twnh – rented well, no problems.
Prop. #4 newly purchase 4-plex. 2 out of 4 units are vacant. Located in downtown Phoenix, potential tenants in the area do not favor Management companies; I spoke to other landlords in the area – you have to be there yourself to rent and collect the rents.
What a mess. Where do I go from here? If I sell – I have to buy and only have 45 days to name the replacement properties. I would like to get out of AZ, but can I find anything in So California, with $150, that I could manage myself and have a positive cash flow or brake even at least? I used to think that I know something about real estate and now feel like a total amateur.
Anyone, who can and want to give advice, please do.
I understand your frustration, but do not get discouraged!
Your first key is to speak with your accountant and the 2nd item you may want to consider is a trade or 1031 with another investor.
I know it's frustrating right now but try to stay calm.
#1 is obviously a problem and you need to deal with it, fix and rent it out right as you have good equity in it.
#4 Need to talk to a different local PM since you're not going to move to AZ. Don't let the tenants control you. There is nothing wrong with using PM, the good one of course. But also understand the tenants and see if you can fullfill some of their needs.
These problems do happen ot us so hang in there.