Investing in Connecticut

[Rafaella Almeida]

Investment Info:

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

Looking to starting acquiring more multi families in New Haven and Hartford county. Preferably a 3 or 4 apartment house.

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

My husband purchased this house before we even met. He wants to have financial freedom by investing in real estate. I like the idea and always loved real estate. House hunting is our pastime.

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

He was looking for a house near a hospital to rent out to medical students. The house was never rented to anyone working at the hospital, but have been rented for the most part. It was not the best time to buy since we purchased at the highest of the market. I say we, but We didn’t even know each other when he bought the house.
We lived in the house for 7 years and after 10 years of owning it we started to see some cashflow.

How did you finance this deal?

FHA loan

How did you add value to the deal?

We’ve made some updates in the house like new roof, new gas furnace, new windows, new kitchen, new bathrooms.
We still want to repaint and improve the curb appeal. We like to be proud of our properties.

What was the outcome?

After 10 years of owning the property we are finally having some extra money.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Quality tenants are key. We rather having the house vacant  than having people that do not appreciate what isn’t theirs. Sometimes we rather charging less to keep a good tenant than increasing and having to find new tenants.

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

We haven’t found the right person yet.