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Updated over 9 years ago on . Most recent reply

User Stats

66
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Michael Walton
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Tallahassee, FL
17
Votes |
66
Posts

First investment property success story! Buy & Hold Quad

Michael Walton
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Tallahassee, FL
Posted

Hi BP,

First of all, thanks to the BP community for your help along the way prior to, during, and after purchasing my first investment property (a buy and hold 4 plex).  And special thanks to @Joshua Dorkin ,@Brandon Turner and all the awesome guests on the BP Podcast - it's one of the most informative and entertaining podcasts I've ever heard!  Thank you for the guidance.

It was a wild ride, with A LOT of unexpected bumps along the way (no matter how much reading and research I did ahead of time).  But now that everything has settled down - rehab is done, completely turned over the old tenants and have it fully rented - I'm excited to build systems for my r/e business and for the next deal!

Anyway, here's the stats:

Purchase Price - $180k

1978 build. 4 units - all 2/2s.  Class C/C+ neighborhood within walking distance from a major university.

Seller paid 2% of closing costs.

New roof in '13, new windows throughout building, new staircase, 3 of the 4 units had been completely renovated. The remaining unit needed a total rehab (sands ripping out the walls, plumbing and electric replacement).

When I put it under contract, the units were not renting out to students, it was quasi section 8/lower income. The seller was clearly just putting people in it to advertise the property as fully leased although it's in a student area. Rents when I purchased were $650, $750, $600 (non-renovated unit) and $650 (totaling $2,650/mo).

Shortly after putting it under contract through my first month of ownership, the tenants (who were mostly on month-to-month leases) all fled like rats, which was good because the rents were under market (I could prob get a max of $750/unit) and the tenants were less than ideal.

Back to the numbers....

Conventional Loan 25% Down: $45k Amount financed: $135k @ 4.75% 30 years - $706/mo

Total Renovations:$16k (I'd say $10-$13k was related to the one unit's rehab - new flooring, new a/c, new fridge, new kitchen cabinets, new toilets, new water heater, painting, new washer/dryer, replacing back door, refinishing tile in baths.  Advice to newbies:  Make sure you factor in contingencies - Whatever you think the rehab will be, I'd add prob another 10%-25% contingency on top of that to be safe.  

I prob paid $1k-$1.5k in "stupid tax" related to hiring a bad handyman and having to re-do his work.  However, we found a lot of great, trustworthy vendors that we'll leverage in the future.

NOI:

New/Current Rents: $2,921/mo After the rehab and a complete tenant turnover, my monthly rents are now $729, $744, $739, $709. The one renting for only $709 is prob the max at this point as it's the only unit w/o a w/d inside. Next year, I can prob increase the rent on the other units between $10-$20/month.

Vacancy: -$146/mo (5%) These are now mostly student rentals where I require their parents co-sign.

Property Mgmt: -$0/mo - I'm managing it myself based on the sage advice I've gotten from BP. I also live 10 mins away. Although I ran the #s to factor in PM so one day I can hand it over to one.

Maintenance: -$250/mo (9%)- Threw up a 9% reserve for maintenance. While rehabbing, I spent a little extra money fixing things that could potentially cause problems down the line.

Cap Ex Reserve: -$438/mo (15%) - Again, I'm prob being a little conservative here as most of the major components (roof, a/c) are all about 2-3 years old, and all four units were recently renovated. Putting a lot away as there's some trees I want removed, and possibly installing a w/d in the one unit that doesn't have it (doesn't currently have hook-ups). I'll drop my Cap Ex Reserve % down to around 10% next year once I've built up a nice reserve.

Utilities: -$180/mo - I pay water/sewage for the building which comes to around $150/mo. Garbage is the other $30. I may sub-meter these costs back to the tenants in the future.

Lawn: -$0 - There really isn't much of a lawn to speak of. It's really all driveway and some trees. I come by every couple of weeks and spend 15 mins weed wacking and leaf blowing - I use it as a chance to just check in on the property. Someone quoted me $150/mo to do this...OK!

Property Taxes: -$245/mo

Insurance: -$131/mo

Monthly NOI: $1,531

Debt Service: -$706

Cash Flow Monthly/Annually: $825 / $9,899

Cash-on-cash return: 16%

Cash flow per unit: $206

Next year, after increasing rents to $2,946/month and bringing my CAP Ex reserve down from 15% to 10%, I'm looking at the following:

Monthly NOI: $1,698

Debt Service: -$706

Cash Flow Monthly/Annually: $992 / $11,906

Cash-on-cash return: 19%

Cash flow per unit: $248

Also, based on comps and increasing the NOI, I estimate I also netted approximately $20k-$25k in forced appreciation as a result of the renovation and rent increases.

Thanks again BP!!

Most Popular Reply

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Brandon Turner
#3 Questions About BiggerPockets & Official Site Announcements Contributor
  • Investor
  • Maui, HI
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Brandon Turner
#3 Questions About BiggerPockets & Official Site Announcements Contributor
  • Investor
  • Maui, HI
Replied

Rock on Dude! This sounds awesome. Onto the next one! :) 

  • Brandon Turner
  • Podcast Guest on Show #92
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