Thanks for welcoming me to BP

[Kristos Sfinas]

Good afternoon Biggerpockers. Long time lurker but Im ready to enter the game, again.

Quick background on who I am and what I have done so far.

I go by Stos and was born and raised in Upstate NY, went to college in Buffalo and Morgantown WV, where I currently reside. My last "real job" was a Paramedic/FF at a City station. Currently, I own a few small business' that are lucky enough to still be operating during covid even at a reduced capacity. MopMen - my first venture - a cleaning company, GrassGuys - MopMen's landscaping division, TruSocial ( pretty much on pause ) - a social marketing company. I also freelance as a Media and Web consultant. in 2019 I was diagnosed with Stage 3 testicular cancer. Think of me as a younger Lance Armstrong, expect the cancer stopped in my lungs and left my brain alone. While that type of cancer should be taken care of with 1 regimen of chemo, mine took 3 and required a specialty hospital and a high dose variety. I tell you all that to illustrate this; I have a strong will and I dont quit. If i want something, I will find a way to make it happen.

My RE experience is minimal. My family owns a construction company back home, so from 12-18 I was swinging hammers. At 22 I purchased a mobile home as an owner finance deal. House hacked it with buddies from college and payed it off in 3 years. Lived in it until recently when I purchased the residence we are currently in.

Recently, I purchased a fixer-upper for 150k in May. Covid has slowed things down exponentially in regards to actually working but have allowed me to just about finish the flip solo in about 7 months. If material wasnt an issue it would have been 5. I was lucky enough to purchase under value and currently I would feel confident our reappraisal would be in the 250k-300k range.
This house has a detached 2 stall 2 deep garage with an auxiliary space above it that is roughed in as an office type set up. However there is only electric and propane service in the garage, no plumbing as of yet. My plan is to turn that into a 1br/ba, rent the main house and live there when Im in Morgantown. The residence is close to the univeristy, hospitals and the High school, in a great school district.

My plan is to move south, anywhere from Myrtle to HHI, but its not set in stone. I just believe it would be a solid STR location and an easy place to insert MopMen/GrassGuys.

Before I leave morgantown I would like to get a rental under my belt, I know the area, its growing, the university keeps rentals full and the hospital turns students into long term renters when they find jobs. Im currently working on an owner finance contract as I have a few investors in mind. I have the liquid from the Mobile home sale as well as my savings.

In a perfect world, my goals for this year are, renovate the upstairs of the garage. Find a property to invest in, in morgantown, hopefully owner financed, Cashout of our current residence and head to warmer climates.

Respectfully,

Stos

[Ashley Teleki]

Hi Kristos! Welcome, or welcome back! Your story is really inspiring and really hones in the saying if you want something make it happen. House hacking a mobile home through owner financing and being able to pay it off in 3 years is awesome. I am currently living in Buffalo and trying to find the best creative finance options to purchase my first house hack this year. 

If there's any way you can post pictures of your progress of turning the top of your garage into a 1bed/1bath apartment, I would love to see how you go about doing so. I've looked into some properties in the area where creating another apartment above the garage would be a good option for extra income. Good luck on your goals for the year, not that you need it because clearly your determination has gotten you so far!