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[Walter Key]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Keystone Heights.

Purchase price: $260,000
Cash invested: $215,000

This is our new primary residence. Built in 1960, updated in 1960! UGLY. We did a full, top to bottom remodel. All new everything. Took out some walls, closed off some walls, you name it. It's now easily a $500K lakefront home with a mortgage in the low $200's. HELOC for investment opportunities coming soon while we enjoy our new Northeast FL lake life. :D

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

We were moving to Florida anyway and this is the 14th home that we purchased in the last 20 years after moving quite frequently with a 21 year Navy career. We've built the habit of always buying "an investment", even if we're going to live in it for a while.

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

MLS. It was old, ugly,an estate sale, and had been sitting on the market for a little while. They had already lowered the price enough to make it worth buying.

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional financing with 10% down. 30-YR fixed. While I stated that the cash invested was $215K, that's not entirely accurate since the majority of the remodel cost was actually funded by the HELOC on our previous primary residence because we had bought it years earlier and also conducted a remodel and basement addition which forced tons of equity into the property. Once we sold that property, we simply paid off the HELOC and pocketed the rest of the cash. Our actual cash outlay was barely over six figures but the total cost of the project remodel was $215K.

How did you add value to the deal?

Full top to bottom remodel on the entire home, including moving/removing walls to open up key spaces, and added an additional 233SQFT finished office/4th bedroom.

What was the outcome?

We now have an amazing lake home to enjoy exactly as we wanted and we can tap some of the equity to fund additional STR purchases on the market.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Not new lessons but certainly worth repeating for the newer investors; it'll take longer and cost more than you expect...plan accordingly! LOL

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

My sister is a local Realtor of over a decade in the Northeast Florida market so that certainly made life easier. I'm now licensed in FL (we moved up from VA) so future investment acquisitions will be easy.