Need advice please!

[Randy Philpot]

Hello everyone,

My wife and I are new investors in Versailles, Kentucky, just outside of Lexington in central Kentucky. We have been successfully renting our previous home for the past 4.5 years, but have not yet purchased our first deal. The past few months we have spent reading books, blogs, and the BP forums, and listening to podcasts, trying to learn as much as we can before taking our investing to the next level. Our $100K HELOC on our primary residence should be in place very soon and we plan to open another HELOC for $40K on our investment property in the near future to allow us to make cash deals. Our primary objective is to buy and hold SFR's, but we are also considering small multifamily properties.

We are currently evaluating an opportunity and I am hoping to get some advice from the BP community.

We are looking at a 0.55 acre of land that currently has a small older house on it that needs to be demolished. The current asking price is $30k, but the property is owned by an estate and the realtor believes they will likely take $15k for it. We will also have to pay $5,300 to have the house demolished and cleared, so the total out of pocket would potentially be $20k.

We are considering building one or possibly two townhomes or duplexes with 3/2 on the property. We have already confirmed with P&Z that the property is zoned for multifamily. The property is located in a C class neighborhood. Next door to the property is a 48 unit townhome community built in 2007, which is separated by thick brush. A 3BR/2BA 1,220 sq ft home is currently renting there for $595, but I think we would be able to get $650 per mo.

Our realtor told us that we can probably build a duplex for $100k, but I have not researched this yet. As we are new investors, the thought of building a new townhome or duplex from scratch on our first deal is a little scary and intimidating. I would love to hear your thoughts on this deal. Is this too much risk and too big of an undertaking for a new investor? Is there anything else we should be considering?

Any advice and guidance would be greatly appreciated!  (Sorry for the lengthy email!  Thank you for reading!)

Randy