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Updated about 2 years ago on . Most recent reply

User Stats

49
Posts
37
Votes
Nick Bruckner
Agent
Pro Member
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Eagle River, AK
37
Votes |
49
Posts

Building Equity in Alaska - 300 miles from the nearest road

Nick Bruckner
Agent
Pro Member
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Eagle River, AK
Posted

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Cash invested: $100,000

We built our first home with cash and borrowing from friends and family in Unalakleet, Alaska, some 300 miles from the nearest road - a village of 700 people. It's really hard to get a construction loan out there - there is no active real estate market. After the home was complete, we got an appraisal, took out a HELOC to reimburse friends and family, lived there five years and now we rent it out.

How did you finance this deal?

We had to get creative with limited options.

How did you add value to the deal?

Sweat equity.

What was the outcome?

Awesome cash flow for a SFH.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

There is no Lowes or Home Depot. All materials must be barged up in the summer from Seattle or Anchorage and everything else must be flown in. Getting contractors is incredibly expensive and difficult. So I had to learn a lot of construction skills from youtube, friends and family. The build took five years and a lot of blood sweat and tears. We scrounged foundation posts from old telephone poles that washed up on the beach.

Most Popular Reply

User Stats

49
Posts
37
Votes
Nick Bruckner
Agent
Pro Member
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Eagle River, AK
37
Votes |
49
Posts
Nick Bruckner
Agent
Pro Member
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Eagle River, AK
Replied

Glad to share. Rents for $1950/month plus all utilities (tenant responsible for snow removal and yard maintenance). We rent to a health corporation that services a region the size of Minnesota. They have trouble finding good housing for health care providers so its a win-win. Our HELOC loan was only $120,000. The home appraised for $308,000 when it was done five years ago, but we only cashed out what we needed to pay folks back at the time.

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