Duplex in Norfolk VA

[Chris A.]

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $141,500
Cash invested: $500

Duplex, VA Loan

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

Wanted to use the VA loan to house hack, live in half and rent out the other half.

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

MLS listing. I used numbers that reflected renting out both units and using a property manager since I am still in the military. Seller had to come down to meet these terms but it worked out. Doing a 0% down VA loan made this a little more difficult/ tighter deal but I am glad that it worked out.

How did you finance this deal?

VA Loan

How did you add value to the deal?

In 2018, rehabbed the kitchen prior to moving in current tenant in unit 2

What was the outcome?

Great rental property that produces steady cashflow.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Had a tenant want to break the lease early to move away for a job shortly after purchase. I had him look for a suitable replacement, and I would release his financial obligation once the new tenant moved in. I had someone who was local (while I was on deployment) assist with vetting the new tenant and it worked out well. Having great people to assist, boots on the ground while you are out of area is really helpful.

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

Alex Winfield was my agent for this purchase, and I would highly recommend him.

[Chris A.]

Hi Taylor, thank you.  

Initially I was all over the place and looking single family properties that needed light rehab, properties with mother in-law units, multi family, pretty much everything residential.  It was still a good experience though since I was able to walk through a lot of properties and get a better understanding of what the neighborhoods around here were like.  I even hired a contractor to come do a walk through with me on another property (that I had under contract but didn't get).  That was well worth the money since he showed me some of the things to look for in the future so I can do better ballpark estimates on my own and speed up the process of putting a good offer in.  

Once I got more focused on what I wanted and what the numbers needed to look like it only took a couple months. I ended up closing right before a yearlong deployment so that was a little bit of concern, but I had great people like Melanie helping to manage it so that made things go much smoother back home.