2nd 4 unit I bought

[Anne Keenan]

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $174,000
Cash invested: $20,000
Sale price: $500,000

4 unit with 3 2 BR/1Ba and 1 3 BR 2/Ba. built in 1926.

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

Owner financing with only 10% down. Then easily flipped it to bank financing after improvements.

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

I was a realtor and had this for sale. No one would buy it even though it cash flowed $1700 a month. So I bought it.

How did you finance this deal?

Owner then bank

How did you add value to the deal?

Improved the units. Rented to Section 8 tenants. Had them apply for Weatherization. Got free weatherization for the building about $30K worth. Had to keep tenants rents the same for several years but then could increase them.

What was the outcome?

Rents increased, utilities went down for tenants. Got new vinyl clad thermal pane windows so eliminated a lot of the lead paint issues. Painted the outside, New roof, new flooring. replaced any wood that had lead paint. This allowed for higher rents.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Filling up my properties with homeless women and children is NOT a good idea. Buying a property in VT with a flat roof also not a good idea. Siding was Asbestos. Paint it don't remove it.

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

Nope I used myself. If I was going to buy there now I would use. Brian Armstrong at Keller Williams in South Burlington, VT. He's an investor and has many units and is a great realtor. He also used to be a lender so he knows that side of things as well.