VA Multi with an AirBnB Twist

[Daniel Kidd]

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $263,000
Cash invested: $1,700
Sale price: $292,000

This property is easily my favorite of all of the ones that I bought starting out. I made a large bid to tie it up, knowing that the appraisal on the VA loan would drag the PP down and it did. It was only after I started the rehab that I decided I wanted to attempt to AirBnB one of the units and so far that has been a great decision and really took some of the burden off of the more extensive rehab I did in a few of the units.

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

I had been looking for a quad for a while to maximize the effectiveness of the VA loan

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

This was an MLS deal and I bid over list knowing that the appraisal would come in low.

How did you finance this deal?

The deal was originally listed at $292,000.00 and I knew that it would appraise at $255K so I bid $293K and won the bid and was able to actually purchase it at $255K and about $33K in seller concessions. This was a VA loan

How did you add value to the deal?

I did extensive rehab and increased all of the rents by $150/door. I also opened one of the units for AirBnB and that has made it higher performing that the other units by about 150%.

What was the outcome?

This is easily one of my highest producing assets at the moment. It needs very little to keep moving. It functions right about a 1.2% at the moment and I expect it to go up to about 1.3% over the next year.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Always get your deposits at closing. This was such a pain to track down later. Let inherited tenants go without a fight and just be done with them and move forward. Landscaping is one cost I will remember to pay for quality on. The cheaper landscaper destroyed my front yard and charged me a lot to do it. Always look up and assess if you will need tree removal.

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

Shelby Osborne - Agent and Team lead for Five Pillars Realty, She was my agent before I became one.
Patrick Stoy - Lender
Stephanie Foley - Insurance
Jennifer Kirby Fincher - Closing Attorney

[Daniel Kidd]

@Neil Henderson VA does require owner occupancy for the first year. It is very similar to FHA, but the rules are a little less strict. As far as short term rentals in Fayetteville, I have found them to be great. I went above and beyond on the rehab to make the AirBnB unit very nice, like a hotel room, and in my first month I had about 80% occupancy. it is a little odd to have two different property managers for the same property, but I like the additional cash from the AirBnB unit. One thing about this area as far as short term rentals goes is that you not only get the people who are visiting Fort Bragg or any of the various colleges, but you also get anyone traveling up and down the coast.