My First HGTV Style Fix and Hold

[Nicholas Baker Wood]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Conway.

Purchase price: $89,000

For our previous properties, we had experienced trouble with choosing the wrong contractor! This time, I decided things would be different. I decided that I was going to do as much work myself as I could, and that I would also hire my wife's coworker, who had experience remodeling homes, to help facilitate the work that I wouldn't be able to do on my own. This was a really fun project, and at the time we purchased it, no other homes had been renovated on the street.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

The house was in rough cosmetic shape. Basically everything needed replaced except for windows and exterior siding. Ceilings were caving in, cabinets and floors were falling apart, and the house was just dated and ugly.

The house was a large 3/2 next to downtown Conway, and the price per sq. footage gave us confidence that the property could appraise highly enough to justify the bank lending us enough money for the repairs.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

My business partner, Zach Saxion, found this property and encouraged my wife and I to put an offer on it.

How did you finance this deal?

Construction loan, 0% down, and bank financed repairs.

How did you add value to the deal?

Replaced all flooring, roof, cabinets, marble counters, light fixtures, stainless appliances, interior paint, ceiling repair, new walk in shower in master, new bathroom vanities, shelves in bathroom, chain link fence, new Air Conditioning, and landscaping.

What was the outcome?

After Repair Appraised Value was $155,000, and we have rented the property out for almost 2 years at $1,325/mo.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

My wife and I had many arguments about how much time I was spending on this remodel! While I'm glad we did it, it was a tonnnnn more work that I was expecting. I learned so much working along my friend on the property, and the only way we could make this property profitable was to do a lot of the work myself.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Zach Saxion, Matt Carter (First Service Bank, Greenbrier), Beau Jones (Insurance)