2 Unit Second home strategy

[James Adair]

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $1,150,000
Cash invested: $35,000

bought for lifestyle reasons. this is a detached 2-unit property near my wifes family in SLO county. Each unit is a 2004 built 3/2 with a full sized garage! I can rent out one side long term, and keep the other side furnished for our personal use. Not quite break even, but the equity growth is awesome, and if we ever relocate to the area, I feel good about having a foothold in this market.

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

I wanted to expand my real estate into California. We have a lot of family there, and a high likelihood of relocating there in the future. During the pandemic, our family strongly considered a full on relocation to SLO county from the Portland oregon area. We found this unique 2 unit property that could help us have a "2nd home" on one side, and get offset income from the other unit.

How did you finance this deal?

conventional 25% down - 30 year money

How did you add value to the deal?

we terminated one of the month to month leases. Redid the carpet, repainted the interior, all new countertops, and updated some lighting. total cost of around 35k

What was the outcome?

we have a fully furnished home that fits our family every time we visit my in-laws now. My in-laws currently live in a small apartment, so we'd always need to get a hotel when we visited.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

My biggest lesson is that even though i'm a little upside down on the monthly payment, I get a ton of pride out of having this home set up for us. And I think the Grover Beach market has a TON of upside.