My sixth investment property

[Tim Mieney]

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $206,000
Cash invested: $17,500

My sixth investment property (another quad). This was the only property we've ever purchased off the MLS and the upkeep has been a bit more than we bargained for. The property was and still is fully occupied. It's a beautiful property that sits on almost 4 acres of land with a long driveway through the trees, a small pond, gardens etc. Again, a beautiful property that tenants love and we're proud to own, but we didn't consider the upkeep enough prior to purchase. Nevertheless, it's cash flowing well and we were able to refinance into long term debt a few months after purchase and only left $17,500 in the deal. There's a development going in just down the road, which we got wind of prior to purchase. We're hoping that may expand over to us for a potentially lucrative sale. If not, we'll hold and continue collecting rent for the foreseeable future.

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

The property is gorgeous and the proximity to our other rentals was ideal. We inherited four tenants and it was great to have cash flow from day one.

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

MLS, negotiated through our agent.

How did you finance this deal?

A combination of private money and a HELOC. We then refinanced into long term debt leaving minimal money in the deal.

How did you add value to the deal?

Better management systems for the tenants who were used to having to pay cash to the previous landlord. Physical improvements have not been made, but we will update units upon turnovers.

What was the outcome?

Still operating with paying tenants.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

We didn't anticipate the amount of upkeep the property would have. It hasn't been awful by any means, but our other properties have much less upkeep.

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

Agent.