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Updated about 8 years ago on . Most recent reply
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Should we buy an occupied duplex as first investment property?
Hello! I'm fairly new to Bigger Pockets and the world of Real Estate Investing. I've been looking at ways in which I can invest my money, and stocks/bonds just weren't interesting to me. I've always had an interest in Real Estate, and as I've learned more about REI, it seems like such a perfect fit for me.
I've been doing a lot of research into REI, listening to BP Podcasts, and talking with friends who have rental properties. I have two friends who also have funds they'd like to invest into Real Estate, and we've been talking about getting into it.
I found a duplex for sale in my town that is fully occupied. Total rent is $1,035/month, though they currently offer the smaller unit a discount of $15/month for mowing the lawn. I plugged all of the information into the BP Calculator and it shows a monthly cashflow of $424/month and a cash on cash ROI of 28.97%. (I used 1% vacancy since it is currently occupied and housing is tight in my town. I used 5% for repairs and also for CapEx. I didn't account for Property Management, though if we decided some day to use this, the cashflow would support it). We're walking through the property in the next few days to get a feel for the quality of the interior, and that could obviously quickly change our view.
I guess I'm looking for thoughts from those who have experience in REI to see if this sounds like a good place for us to start. The risk seems to be fairly minimal, and the Cash on Cash ROI seems very strong. Any thoughts or advice is highly appreciated! Thanks in advance for helping out a newbie in REI and the BP Forums!