Central Fl. House-hack

[Kevin Lanier Jr.]

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $230,000
Cash invested: $85,000

This is a house hack, we live in one side of the Duplex and rent the other side out. We renovated the entire duplex inside and out. We purchased this with an FHA loan so our down payment was reasonable. We had planned to refi after renovations to pull some of the invested cash out but interest rates had gone up quite a bit so we decided to keep our 2.5% interest rate.

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

I like that I could get into the deal with only 3.5% down. I liked this particular property because it’s near a school, hospital, local government buildings, etc. I also liked this property because it was something that I could add value to and raise rents.

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

My wife saw it on Zillow. We made an offer that day 8k above asking which was 252k. The appraisal came back at 220k and so we told the sellers that we would only be able to bring 10k over the appraised value and they agreed to it.

How did you finance this deal?

FHA mortgage for the property, cash reserves for the renovations

How did you add value to the deal?

We gave the property a face lift and raised rents.

What was the outcome?

The outcome is that we still live here and love the area. We rent one side out for 1800$/month and that covers our mortgage and gives us a little cash flow. One day whenever interest rates go down again, we will refi and pull a nice chunk of change out of the property to invest somewhere else.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

The experience has taught me that real estate investing is more of a mindset than anything. I had challenges, I figured out solutions, I didn’t give up, I invested in real estate. And I am going to keep doing it.

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

I worked with a great agent and lender. This was before I got my own license but I would personally love to work with anybody wanting to invest in this way or any other way in real estate. Let’s connect!