Should I make this my first 4-plex? 😬

[Ryan Peach]

I live in Evansville Indiana and have bought my first two single family investment properties in the last year. Together I net roughly $500 a month and have really enjoyed my experience. I recently stumbled across a Quadruplex that is selling for $230,000. It's in a good (not great) part of town and the tenants have lived there between three and seven years. Three of them rent for $625 per month and one rents for $725 per month. I would get a construction loan for the property which means I would have to put no money down. $2,600/month in rent sounds great, but after running the numbers (i.e. mortgage, insurance, taxes, 10% for property management) I would only net $75/mo per unit. This property has little to no upkeep done since the owner bought it 10 years ago. It would need some serious cosmetic work if a tenant moved out. I love the idea of owning 4 doors and not 4 separate houses, but not sure of this is the right deal for me. Can you help?

[Joe P.]

I am sure you know this, but the rents would likely increase steadily over time -- if its a profitable property, in a decent neighborhood, and in good condition, what do your projected rents/net profit look like over time? To me you have others paying down the equity and $300 per month in cash flow. Maybe that increases by only $100 per year ($25 per unit), but after 5 years your cash flow is now $800 per month.

I haven't dug into your numbers so I couldn't and wouldn't definitively say to go for it, but if your numbers are conservative to start with and you anticipate even modest growth in neighborhood and rents, it seems like a good investment property.