Family Find in Montana

[Adam Farmer]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Coram.

Purchase price: $50,000
Cash invested: $5,000

Plan to develop the land as a STR since it is in a prime location by a National Park. For now, long time tenant in place with positive cash flow.

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

It fell on my lap. Saw an opportunity and jumped on it quickly.

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

Mother-in-law had been a tenant of a family friend for over 15 years. The family friend, who is elderly, made an off-handed comment to my MIL about buying the place. MIL relayed the info to my wife and I booked a flight the next day. Sat down with the family friend expecting to make an offer of $100k (the appraisal was $265k) as a starting point. The owner offered $50k off the bat...

How did you finance this deal?

Owner financed: 5/5/5
$5k down, 5% interest, 5 year loan amortized over 30 years with a balloon
Contract for deed

How did you add value to the deal?

The familial relationships were everything on this one...

What was the outcome?

Closed the deal and refinanced 6 months later to pull out cash for another deal. Current loan is through a small local bank for $100k. Current tenant (MIL) makes the mortgage payment and escrow plus a small amount to cover future capex.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Network is everything. It never hurts to ask or let people know that you are in real estate. People are always looking to dump off properties as they age and look to retire.

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

Glacier Bank in Whitefish is excellent! They kept our loan in house and made it very easy.