Trading up from SFR to MFR

[Dan Gorman]

I'm looking for advice on trading up from a Single Family Rental to a Multi-Family building. My wife and I have been SFR landlords for 10 years and would like to scale up our investment properties.

We currently own a SFR in the Cincinnati area free & clear (no loan). Approximate value is $400k. We are looking to sell and deploy all or part of these funds into a MFR apartment building or a couple of duplexes.

Any advice on how aggressive to get with # units and market areas for an apartment building?

Thank you for any guidance.

[Landon Bleau]

I would look for an Agent/CPA/Lawyer who are VERY familiar with 1031 exchange and can walk you through this process.  I would go as big as you feel comfortable with, if that's a 20 unit, go that route, if it's a 4plex, do that.  Assuming you keep $100K cash on hand for repairs/maintenance, that gives you $1.2M buying power assuming 25% DP, which can buy a lot in Cincinnati!