First property a house hack in Saint Louis

[Nicholas Jackson]

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $180,000

Househack purchased through the NACA program in October of 2022. Tenants placed in September of 2023 at 950 a month. Will most likely double this amount upon moving out for a total of 1900. This would bring in about 600 a month in cash flow after expenses.

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

I wanted to cut my living expenses and essentially live for free. I wanted to buy a 2 to 4 family to bring in extra income, cut my expenses, and allow me to save up more money to be able to afford future deals down the line.

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

I found it on the MLS and I had my agent negotiate the price down from 190 along with the seller providing a few more final fixes before closing on the deal.

How did you finance this deal?

I financed the deal through the NACA program. I was able to purchase the home at a lower than market interest rate of 4.75% at the time along with no money down, no closing cost, and no PMI fee.

How did you add value to the deal?

I have since added value to the property by providing each unit with a dishwasher, one unit I installed a laundry room, and I got a garbage disposal for one of the units. New windows were installed in both units as well.

What was the outcome?

I have lived in the property for over a year now and have had tenants in the other unit for the last couple months.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

The lesson I learned on this is that you don't know what you don't know. There are a ton of things that are involved with not only owning a property, but how to manage a property whether that is for yourself or for others. You need to budget for expenses and this budget should be extensive, I would say roughly 10 to 20% of the purchase price. You never know what you may need to fix and what expense might occur. Also location, location, location! the location can alter everything you analyze!

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

My agent has had quite a bit of experience in the area and in multi-family investing and she was able to keep me in line with my goals and help me find the most ideal property for my needs!