Considering Portfolio of 4 Duplexes

[Chris Lynn]

I'm looking at a portfolio of 4 duplexes. All are side by side on the same street. 2 are 2/1 and two are 1/1. Two units (different buildings) have fire damage that is (reportedly) repairable. Other units are leased and current with the exception of 1 unit that hasn't paid in several months. Area isn't great, but not the worst. Purchase price would be around $110k or so and rents are/would be in the range of $300 to $350 per (hopefully a little more). I'm figuring $15k of rehab on burn units. I'm intrigued by the concept of value add (which I've done several times) and cleaning up the exterior of all 4 buildings to raise the value of the group. My other 5 properties are SFR's in better parts of town and are pretty easy to manage. The cash flow of this deal would be pretty good, but I'm concerned about the caliber of tenant that I would be dealing with. Anyone have any experience with a similar group buy with value add and/or dealing with this range of tenant? Am I chasing cash flow right into the frying pan?

[Stephen J Davis]

I am worried about the tenants as well. Don't make a greed decision and reduce your quality of lifestyle. I bought 42 units of this type of property and ended up carrying a gun to collect the rent. Not a good decision on my part. I sold them as quickly as I could.