My Cash Cow

[Kelly Smith]

Investment Info:

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

I have owned, lived in, and managed this property for many years since 2000. It started as 2 SFR and I have increased it to 4. It is my cash cow and has allowed me to retire and travel on a sailboat for 3 straight years. I am now preparing to increase my holdings and looking at markets that I would like to live or visit often such as FL and NC coastal

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

Loved the property - it is very wooded and on a cove of Lake Travis

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

Purely by accident

How did you finance this deal?

30 year mortgage

How did you add value to the deal?

Increased from 2 SFR to 4 and Austin became a very hot market

What was the outcome?

I still own it and it has given me freedom to travel full time

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Challenges have mostly been a few bad tenants ( I am much stricter about who I will allow to live there- all background checks always), it is in a natural wooded area which means critters, and TX droughts

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

I was a Realtor in my previous life which helped me to see the potential of this property.