My first BRRRR. It is possible!

[Justin Brown]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $40,000
Cash invested: $4,000

This one is a brick townhouse with 3 BR and 1.5 Baths. Hardwood floors, a fenced in back yard and full basement. Low maintenance rental and no HOA fees.

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

This was our first BRRRR. We bought it FSBO from another investor who held it for 20yrs. We bought it for $40k, put $4k in the kitchen, baths and paint and it appraised for $70k. We borrowed enough to pay back our private lender and left a few thousand $$ in the deal to cashflow >$100/mo.

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

On Zillow as a FSBO. Negotiated a cash offer directly with the seller who was an investor. Closed in 2 weeks.

How did you finance this deal?

Private lending from a friends HELOC. Paid them 10% on the purchase price. We funded the rehab with our own cash.

How did you add value to the deal?

New kitchen cabinets, new bathroom floor, vanity and painted the interior.

What was the outcome?

Appraised for $70k and we borrowed $45k against it to pay back the lender and recover closing costs.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Start refinance ASAP. We waited a couple months thinking that we needed a tenant in place to get the appraisal. We could have started sooner since the work was done after 1 month. This cost us in holding costs and opportunity costs on putting our lenders money back to work.

Consider the street as well as the property. We had a more difficult time renting this one due to the street it is on. It is safe but doesn't look like it. We had to reduce our price from where we initially wanted to be.

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

No. This was a very simple transaction from one investor to another. We didn't even sign a contract, just a hand shake (not advised).