Driving for Some Serious Dollars—An 8-Unit for Only $200K

Meet Henry Washington from Springdale, Arkansas. Henry works full-time doing data analytics but does real estate investing on the side. He has accumulated 40 rentals in the last two years in several areas in Arkansas, including Springdale, Fayetteville, Rogers, and Bentonville. The market is great for rentals due to several large corporations based in the region.

Henry went from single to married in 365 days and realized the single lifestyle of spending every dollar of his paycheck wasn’t going to work anymore. So, he started researching other ways to make passive income and kept coming across the idea of owning rentals.

He thought to himself, “I can be a landlord.”

Henry reached out to a friend—also a Realtor—who lent him the famous book Rich Dad Poor Dad. Henry was instantly hooked.

Since then, Henry has accumulated 40 rental properties over the last 2 years. He sources most of his deals through direct mail or a lead generation website. He is also running a pay-per-click Google ad campaign.

Henry has bought houses as low as $30K, renting for $800/month, to as high as $115K, renting for $1,500/month. The majority of his portfolio is made up of duplexes, and his buy/rent ratios are incredibly strong.

This Investor’s Best Deal Ever

Henry and his business partner were driving for dollars one day and came across a property they liked. They met with the seller, viewed the property, and determined it wouldn’t work—but the seller had other properties available. Among those properties were four duplexes, totaling eight units, on two different lots that were grouped together. It sounded like it had potential—so they decided to take a look.

Henry describes the properties as rough! In fact, two of the eight units were inhabitable. One building was down to the studs—with holes in the roof, allowing rain inside. There were bird nests inside light fixtures, drug paraphernalia on the walls, and they even had to use tools to get in some of the units. Of the eight units, only two were occupied. Henry knew this was going to be a massive undertaking!

Turns out, the seller only wanted enough to pay off his loan. Their initial offer was a lowball of $100K; the seller promptly declined. Henry reconsidered, and they came back with a solid offer of $200K, which was accepted.

They funded the deal with a small regional bank that they’ve used before and was familiar with their quality of work. Henry budgeted a $140K for the renovation, which the bank funded 100%. After paying their 10% down payment of $20K for the purchase price, they were ready to get to work!

To date, they’ve renovated three of the four buildings and are just starting to do the fourth.

The Numbers

They currently have six units averaging $725 per month. They plan to finish the renovation, then refinance, keeping the cash flow coming in. They plan to work with the same bank to do new construction on the other lot.

Purchase: $200K
Rehab: $140K
Current Cash Flow: $4,350/month

Henry’s Advice to Other Investors

Anytime you have a meeting with an investor, ask if they have something they don’t want, Henry recommends.

And put together good spec sheets for contractors prior to them coming out to inspect properties and provide estimates, so they have an idea of what to expect in terms of the scope of work.

What was your best deal ever or the best deal you’ve ever heard about?

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Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.