Second Investment Purchase

[Tim Murphy]

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $236,000
Cash invested: $60,000

Duplex investment near Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA.

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

My wife and I were interested in obtaining a multifamily property near where we grew up.

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

We found this deal through our real estate agent.

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional lender, 25% down

How did you add value to the deal?

We requested numerous repairs prior to accepting the deal.

What was the outcome?

The investment was purchased and we inherited two units already rented and cash flowing upon purchase.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

The biggest challenge was obtaining insurance. The home was nearly 100 years old, and while everything had been updated, there still remained some polybutylene piping in the home that proved problematic to insure. Although I was able to find insurance that covered the polybutylene, it took me nearly a month of consistent effort to find a broker to insure.

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

Our real estate agent, Jillian Walter, was excellent.