Zodiac Rentals

What a solid fourplex! What a great location! Sadly, a bad neighborhood! The Square was plagued by low income (mainly immigrant and very transitional) tenants, a rampant drug problem, and large trailer park communities.

The Sqaure had seen better times drawn by its phenomenal location - within minutes of the 101, 51, Cave Creek Rd, Scottsdale and the industrial belt  in the Cave creek/Bell Road corridor. Newer condos, fine apartment complexes, and a flurry of single family home communities had sprung up in the days leading to the recession. But developers and opportunistic short-term investors can drop marginal neighborhoods at the slightest hints of trouble. And, the Square was no exception.

Nothing symbolized this reversal of fortunes more than a half completed condo complex that shared a wall with our fourplex community. Like a tombstone, the stalled condos - frame only - stood as stark reminders of the fickle real estate market and the volatility of careers built on its shaky foundations.

But its location remained unparalleled and the Sqaure would be one of the first beneficiaries of any rising real estate market that was my reasoning when we placed an offer on the fourplex. As long as the market continued to improve, this fourplex would witness outsized appreciation given its strong location and popular layout (2bed/2ba, storage closet, balcony/patio).

The fourplex was pretty solid needing mainly cosmetic updates and contrary to our perception, the tenant profile too was quite satisfactory. Sticking to our playbook, we remodeled the inside with 2-tone paint, new carpets, laminate floors, cabinet touch-ups and bathroom updates. The exterior remodel also was fairly straight forward - some stucco patching, and a new coat of two-tone paint. A fairly conventional remodel though it was slightly uphill convincing potential tenants that the units justified rents we were asking but as the neighborhood improved and the remodel got completed, tenants started to appreciate the value behind the rent they were paying.

Our belief in the neighborhood’s prospects were vindicated when we sold - rather prematurely though - values in the neighborhood have continued to rise at a steady pace since our sale.

And for that half-completed condo complex, it was completed with all condo units sold out!