Madison Multi Family

[DYLAN BLUM]

Hey all! New to the BP forums. I've been listening to the podcast for the past few months and house hacking has me really excited. Ideally i'd like to get a triplex or fouplex in the Madison area as I just got a job in the area and I am not in a position to move any time soon. It seems that finding a 3 or 4 plexes in the Madison area are few and far between. The few I've found would be difficult to afford at 350k+ even if I do go the FHA route in order to do it. For those in the area, do they come on the market very often?

[Brian Conne]

Hi Dylan,  they can be a little sparse.  For sure, you have to be patient.  You will also want to give some thought to your investment goals.  There is a bit of competition in the area right now, so if you don't need immediate cash flow, you may have an advantage.

Brian

[Rachel Millar]

As long as you have an agent who is on it and really helping you look you should eventually find something, they come up but they don't last long when they do!

[Matthew Abrahamzon]

I would agree with Rachel. They are available but go fast, especially the good deals. When I first started looking in Madison a little over a year ago, there was an REO 4 plex on Turbot Dr that was listed at $205k. Granted it did need some work, but with about $20k and some sweat equity it would have been a beauty. You are right though, most are listed for more. You have to find the distressed sellers. Once you find a deal, you have to be ready to move on it immediately. Several times when my realtor let me know of a great deal, we would schedule to see it. Due to my job I couldn't schedule to see it until 2 or 3 days later and when I eventually got to view the property there would be a pending offer already. A couple times I would get a call back from my realtor before we even saw the property and the seller had an accepted offer already. Madison is a hot market. I would recommend finding a realtor that is an investor themselves, or has worked with investors. We are here to purchase properties not due to some emotional attachment like most home buyers, but due to the cold facts and metrics of due diligence.