Baltimore BRRR Cashflows $1K a month

[Alex Kukich]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Baltimore.

Purchase price: $186,500
Cash invested: $95,000

Bought this at an all cash Auction from a bank. Didn't have any cash, but got the GC from our first investment to mock up that I had the funds. Won the auction. Freaked out. Called the title company and persuaded them to take the loan. They did, so after 5 months of title back and forth the deal finally closed and I used a personal FHA 3.5% down loan. I was dead broke. Thought about refing another property to get some cash, but instead just did all the work to flip the house myself and ran it on Credit Cards before doing a cash out refi. Details are below. This is my best investment to date.

Acquired $186,500
Down payment with closing $20,000
Rehab: $75,000
Initial mortgage ~$1700 a month

When we acquired the property it was split into two unites, the top unit was 2 beds and 1.5 baths with full kitchen and washer and dryer. We replaced the top floor full bath for $3,500 and got a renter in after 3 months of rehab to upstairs and substantial demolition to the down stairs unit (didn't want to subject a tenant to the noise and dust etc.). Got a renter in for $1,400 a month on a lease from December 2016 to April 2017. Then resigned a new tenant from April 2017 - March 2018 (better time to rent and increased to $1500).

Spent $70,000 replacing a full roof (took everything off and all new joists, plywood, membrane, etc), building out a one bedroom one bath apartment with a full kitchen. Finished remaining renovations and brought a new tenant in on May 1, 2018 paying $1500 a month.

Started renting garage for $150 a month later in 2018. Have never had a lapse in tenants, after we stabilized the property I did a cash out refi that worked as follows:

Total Cash into property $95,000 (rehab, down payment, closing, etc).
Total remaining loan amount when refinanced was $173,000.
Got an appraisal at $450,000 for the building, put a new mortgage on it for $300,000K and got $127,000 in cash on the refi. Paid off all debts, rolled the remaining into a multifamily building with partners.

Upstairs apartment listing: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1345-Hull-St-Baltimore-MD-21230/36542201_zpid/

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

I saw it as an outlier in the neighborhood. There was already one unit virtually ready for rent that would cover most of my total mortgage and the bottom (needed lots of work) was a blank canvas that I could bring a unique product into the market place if I did it right. It was off of MLS and I entered into the auction.

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

MLS from an agent friend who had sent me a series of prepared lists.

How did you finance this deal?

Initially a cash auction I won with a $2,000 deposit that I would lose if I couldn't come up with the money. Once I won the bid, I proceeded towards closing and after a few weeks of speaking with the title company I convinced them (with some help from mentors) to let me buy it with an FHA loan which I was pre-approved for at the time. Somehow it worked.

How did you add value to the deal?

In the upstairs apartment we did a new bathroom for $3,500 and then immediately rented the space for $1400 a month while we dumped $70,000 into the down stairs, including almost $20,000 on a completely new roof/joints/plywood decking/membrande/etc. When we acquired the building there were mushrooms and plants growing down from the ceiling that had roots planted on the roof. Fun times.

What was the outcome?

We still own this property today. Our mortgage is $2150 a month, gross rents are $1500 upstairs, $1550 downstairs, $150 for garage, all annual leases for a total of $3200.

After we completed renovations we did a cash out refinance where we got $127,000 in cash back, a new loan amount of $300K and appraisal of $450K on the finished product.

We will rent this for decades, and then at some point we will do a full gut renovation, turning it back into a true single family home.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Work hard, make mistakes, learn, and then apply the same work ethic. Good deals find money, and good deals find persistent people. Pay for good mentors, they'll pay you back in droves. Higher someone to do tile work, it sucks if you suck at it and I suck at it.

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

I always recommend Bryan Schaffer from Cummings Realty here in Baltimore.