FInding good deals on Duplex's and other multifamily

[Michael Costanzo]

I am a new investor in the Richmond, Virginia area and had a few questions for the experienced investors out there. I see a lot of posts on the forums and from other on BP saying in their market anything from SFH to Duplex's and even Quads go from the 60k-200k range. In my market a small 3 bed 1.5 bath starter home in "decent" shape in a "decent" area starts at 150k. Duplex's are in the 300k range and quads in the 400 - 500k range. With that said the rents are a little higher, but how can a new investor find good deals in their area? I feel like I am missing a big piece of the puzzle when it comes to finding deals below market value and even off market.

[Sarah Shockley]

I feel your pain. Current market conditions make finding worthwhile investment properties difficult at best - inventory is low, prices are high and going up, and most neighborhoods in my town (Jacksonville, FL) are firmly in a seller's market. From what I understand about other markets around the country, this situation is fairly common.

One thing you can do is keep an eye on HUD properties in your area (hudhomestore.com). HUD purposefully lists their properties significantly below market value to sell quickly. If you buy and actually move in to the property (house-hacking), HUD properties can be a great opportunity because there's a period of time that only owner-occupants can make offers, before investors.

Fannie Mae has a similar program for their foreclosures (homepath.com) - where only owner-occupants can make offers during the first 15 days the property is on the market, so those can be a good opportunity as well.

If you are purchasing as an investor, then HUD and Homepath properties are still good deals, if they don't get snapped up by owner-occupants first.

Other options - save up and pay cash for auction properties, look into other cities, look for off-market properties, consider different investment strategies like vacation and executive rentals, etc.

Happy Hunting!