Fully rented duplex in northern Richmond, VA which I purchased for $85k in 2014. There was already property management in place, but I soon realized they were not meeting my needs and I was forced to fire them and evict a tenant who stopped paying and eventually just left all their stuff and skipped town. This was my first purely investment property and there were some hard lessons learned, but despite the challenges, this property has provided me consistent cash flow.

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

At the time I was living in Washington, DC and the cost of investing there was prohibitive. I went to Richmond seeking both a lower cost of entry, but also the to scale up with multifamily.

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

I was able to find a great realtor in the Richmond area right here on bigger pockets. Jon Deavers knew the market and was able to have several properties lined up for me when I came for a weekend visit. As I was investing from a distance, this kind of efficiency local expertise was critical.

How did you finance this deal?

Financing was done with a very painful 25% down and the rest through a traditional mortgage. The rates were reasonable (4.5% for 30yrs) but the 25% was required by the lender since it was a multifamily investment property.

How did you add value to the deal?

Most of the investment to the property has been cosmetic and done as part of regular turnover costs. I think this highlights the importance of a very good property inspection, especially on older properties.

What was the outcome?

I certainly have no regrets considering the consistent cashflow I have been getting out of the property, but I would like to scale up in either number of units or quality of neighborhood/tenants. I am considering selling or 1030 exchanging the property in the next year or so.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Be more critical of tenants you will potentially inherit. While having the rent from the start will be nice, it can cause more problems in the long run. Luckily in this instance there was at least the security deposit to fall back on when they left the place a mess, but it didn't cover all the costs. While it may be easy to just run with the existing property manager, again, conduct your due diligence on them as well.

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

Again, would definitely recommend Jon Deavers if anyone is looking for a home or investment property in the Richmond area.

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