Single Family Alaska Short Term Rental

[Jeremy Bartlett]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Eagle River.

Purchase price: $308,000
Cash invested: $41,000

Single Family Fixer-Upper. Needed new roof, interior/exterior paint throughout, new flooring throughout, new trim throughout, repair work to deck, and new banister in a great neighborhood. Most houses in area go for around $360K+. Negotiated $10K from seller and invested $10K for total remodel. Planning on living in it for a year or two and turning into an AirBnB as a mountain lodge feel in AK.

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

Quality of life increase for short amount of time from living in apartment, long/short term rental potential

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

Sniped deal off MLS - house on market only 3 days... Negotiated with out of state seller, wife was our realtor. Negotiated based on him being in a hurry to sell and us being willing to take on projects in exchange for concessions for repairs.

How did you finance this deal?

5% down conventional

How did you add value to the deal?

Sped up process for him (it was vacant and he was going through divorce), and we took burden off his plate

What was the outcome?

Living in Fixer upper. New worth ~$350-$360K.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Ex-wife held up transaction a solid two weeks as she worked sellers car and other concessions from him before closing to avoid any claim to the proceeds. Be cautious of reasons for selling.
Rushed process a little and had home inspection, but no HVAC inspection... led to $1500 repair for bringing mechanical room up to code that was not covered by home warranty or anything else.
Over confident in timeline to deal with contractors to get work done while getting moved in. Led to a lot of stress.

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

Wife did a great job as the realtor and negotiating with seller going through a hard time to find a win/win for everyone!
Alyssa Bartlett with Keller Williams Alaska Group
Sveta Cross did a great job with First Rate Financial! Seamless transaction!
Christina Collins did a great job with Yukon Title!