Bozeman Condo Buy-and-Hold

[Theodore Ehlert]

Investment Info:

Condo buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $470,000
Cash invested: $42,500

Capital appreciation. Long-term rentals preferred, but potential for branching into short- or medium-term rental options to serve the market. No one moves to Montana to buy a condo (who can afford a ranch anyway!?), but a condo is a great gateway for your move to Montana!

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

We are Montanans and want to return home, but also we hate cutting the grass.

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

We found the most amazing agent, Susan Kowalczik, who brought us in on the deal and helped us close. Everyone looking at the Bozeman market should work with Suz!

What was the outcome?

Solid capital appreciation of approximately 19% year-on-year.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

We locked in long-term tenants the month before COVID hit, and we’ve resisted raising rent proportional to the market rate increases because they’re tremendous tenants. As a result, while the market rents have risen 17% year-on-year, we’ve only raised rent for our tenants 5%. We have not necessarily learned from this, but it certainly will be a challenge to catch up to the market.

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

Susan Kowalczik, seven days a week. And Sara Koelzer for the money.