Duplex in Indianapolis - Good cash flow but iffy neighborhood

[Teho Kim]

BP,

I got some incredible help on the last deal analysis. You helped me back out of my offer that I put in on a very marginal deal. I'm hoping you can help me with another analysis.

Indianapolis Duplex w/ each unit fenced backyards and garages; 2 bed 1 bath each; 1204sqft each.

Asking $129k

Approximate rent: Rent ready side $750, other side is currently rented at $650

Rehab: Rough guess $4000? Unknown, working on it - $650/mo side probably needs a few touch ups and backyard needs landscaping.

Neighborhood: C Class. I'm concerned about the crime map from Trulia (picture). But my agent says this is typical of anything near downtown; projected vacancy 6.5%

Taxes: ~$1300/yr

I really like the numbers on this one. If I fix up the one side and get $750/mo per side, I'm calculating a conservative $240/mo for the property in cash flow. What do others think? My only concern is the neighborhood; my agent says he owns a duplex 2 mins away but I know things can vary greatly block to block.

Is this a property worth pursuing?

Thank you so much for the guidance.

[Adam Sankowski]

@Teho Kim looks like that’s south of sacred heart/ old south side. But that is it’s own little pocket of a neighborhood so you can’t really compare it to old SouthSide. Your Realor could have a property in old SouthSide, which is two minutes away, and it’s not the same thing. 

I get the sense that you haven’t visited Indy yourself and walked some of these neighborhoods? I’m not saying you have to fly to Indy to check out every house, I certainly don’t, but you need to go once and check out the neighborhoods that your looking at, at least once. That’s required. Seems crazy to me to buy something where you have no way to actually confirm what your realtor is saying. At least for the first one, get on a plane and see what you think of that neighborhood yourself! Just my 2 cents. Then in the future you can feel confident about any other purchases there.