First Duplex / House Hack

[Aaron Foye]

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $124,000

Cash invested: $9,500

Duplex house hack, lived in for 5 years while slowly renovating. Both units now rented

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

I was previously renting from a friend who owned a similar property.

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

Found the property on the MLS, not much negotiation occurred because I was a green investor and wasn't well educated on purchasing real estate.

How did you finance this deal?

VA Loan

How did you add value to the deal?

Gutted much of the owner occupied unit, new insulation, sheetrock, flooring, and fixtures. Paint throughout. 2 new water heaters (Bought with state credit) , high efficiency gas furnace, and metal roof. Most work DIY.

What was the outcome?

Forced some much needed appreciation. Building is now quite stable and cash flowing.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Bought this property way too high for its condition and the season (dead of maine winter). There was much more room to negotiate a lower price on this property. I was a little over zealous with some renovations, fixing things that weren't broken and buying some materials that were expensive and would not increase value/cashflow.