4-Plex with Laundromat view

[Christina Linn]

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $225,000
Cash invested: $10,000

This is directly across the street from our laundromat. It's the only property that we don't own outright (we have a lease option on it) and is the least nice property we own. We bought it to live in. The facts that it's across the street from the laundromat and we live for free are awesome!!

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

We thought it would be awesome to hang out at home and have the ability to quickly make it to customers who may need help. We knew we could keep cameras up at all times, so it made a lot of sense to us.

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

We were looking at this when we found our laundromat, but never would have bought it without the laundromat. We overpaid for it and the seller was non-negotiable on price which is why it was sitting there for a couple years for sale. For us it was worth the $10k risk to see how nice it would be to live across the street from the laundromat. And it is amazing!

How did you finance this deal?

We paid $10k for a lease/option. The current owner is interested in owner financing, but if that falls through we will get a traditional owner/occupied loan.

How did you add value to the deal?

We have put a new kitchen in our unit and will redo other units as they come vacant. This is actually not a good investment if only numbers are considered, but it's amazing to sit at home with my now 2-1/2 year old and run to the laundromat when necessary, rather than sitting at the laundromat all day every day.

What was the outcome?

That is still to be determined, but we have decided that we will exercise our option; it's just a matter of how at this point.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Sometimes making an investment for reasons other than money is worth it, although I wouldn't suggest it in most situations. The numbers aren't bad, but they're not good. We do live 100% for free though and that is awesome! Learning about options other than purchasing through traditional channels was a challenge for me with this one.