The Wyoming House - Our Second Investment Property.

[Dominic Seeker]

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $160,000
Cash invested: $15,000

111 year-old french style duplex in The beautiful and trendy Benton Park Neighborhood of St. Louis. Updated and renovated to a modern feel interior while maintaining its classic turn of the century charm on the exterior.

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

We were excited to expand our portfolio and acquire this french beauty. Other than capitalizing on our growing demand for our units by adding more units we were happy to pull this historic property into our collection.

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

This deal, unlike our first, was on market, however we saw here what we did with our first as well. A motivated seller looking to liquidate properties quickly to absolve themselves of maintenance responsibilities. Their business was suffering because of the pandemic however ours was flourishing and we were happy to unburden them of this wonderful structure.

How did you finance this deal?

We financed this deal using again an FHA loan with minimal money down by taking advantage of other local policies, including a grant for first time home-buyers who are first responders. I myself being a paramedic. After all was said and done my down payment was a grand total of nine cents.

How did you add value to the deal?

This house received much needed updating immediately. We upped the curb appeal by improving the entry way, doors, and made the address more visible. We rebuilt the fence around the backyard & improved the yard as a whole by removing old clothes-lines, fenceposts, etc. Some landscaping on the long side of the house was done, as this house is on a corner and receives much attention from the neighborhood. Interior received a full kitchen & bath remodel. Paint, trim, furniture, & historical touches.

What was the outcome?

So far the property has done very well for us. Its larger floor-plan & nice sized yard was a great addition to the options we can offer our tenants. It has remained full since acquisition. And appears to be quite popular as we always have someone lined up to take the keys.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

This property seemed all well during the initial inspection but after taking the keys we discovered a massive collection of various plumbing issues throughout the building. The previous owners had done a bit of creative plumbing with pex, which while I appreciated the upgrade from the original lead, their connections were all wrong. They had hot water supplies running to toilets, leaking pex/copper connections, and flooding in the ceiling of the lower unit which all needed repair.

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

Again we worked with Garcia Properties for the acquisition of this property, once again they helped us get everything in line to acquire this house for only pennies down. As much as that sounds like an infomercial, I wouldn't say it if it weren't true.