Downtown Fort Lauderdale Duplex Buy & Hold - Long Term & AIRBNB

[Heidi Braunhardt]

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $375,000
Cash invested: $30,000

This was a 2 unit that I purchased in 2016 for $375K. There is a single family home in front, and in back there is a guest house/loft above a garage. It is a corner lot, so they actually have two separate driveways, which is great for privacy. We renovated the loft right away, and then put it up on Airbnb. We gross in between $2,500 - $3,000/month on that unit. It is a 450 SQFT 2/1. The main house is original (this place was built in 1924, very cool) and we rent it for $1,650/month. It is an 800 SQFT 2/1. This is located in the Sailboat Bend neighborhood of Downtown Fort Lauderdale. After all expenses, including PITI, we net on average $700/month.

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

This was my first multi family purchase. I was ready to get into Airbnb, so this was also my first Airbnb :)

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

I am a Realtor, and I found it off market through another Realtor I was actually working on another deal with.

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional 20% down.

How did you add value to the deal?

By renovating the loft, we were able to get top dollar for it on Airbnb. We rent it in between $75-125/night, depending on the time of year.

What was the outcome?

The loft is very successful on Airbnb and people love the main house for long term rental.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

We probably would have renovated the main house also, and turned that one into an Airbnb if we had really thought about it back then. Since it was my first duplex, I thought having one short term and one long term rental would be good. It is good, but we could be making more money if both were on Airbnb.

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

I am a Realtor :)