Sometimes the tiniest home holds the biggest memories!

[Liz Edwards]

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) note investment investment in Sonoma.

Purchase price: $660,000
Cash invested: $250,000
Sale price: $1,300,000

This was such a fun project! We lived in the home for 4 years (along with my parents!) We purchased it as a very awkward single family home and converted it to a legal duplex. It was the most perfect location, a 5 minute walk to the historic Sonoma Plaza! We will forever miss this property! It was a great investment for our family! We lived large in our tiny portion of the duplex and made lots of family memories along the way! It was where my kids learned how to house hack :) and so did I!

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

Price point! Sonoma was and still is a very expensive market and we had to be creative with what we could afford.

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

It was a very awkward layout (kitchen upstairs) bedrooms were also walkways - argh! It was like the ONLY house in Sonoma nobdy wanted. In fact we didn't want it either hahaha! But we made a low offer after they took it off the market out of frustration. And we got it, for a great price!

How did you finance this deal?

Traditional 30 year fixed with 20% down. We paid cash for the initial renovation.

How did you add value to the deal?

We added value by making the awkward 2 story single family house with a kitchen upstairs a DUPLEX - by simply adding a kitchen downstairs! It was already zoned to be a multi family property, which was a huge help! We had to "fire-rate" between the 2 units and add fire spriklers throughout which was a big expense.

What was the outcome?

We had to move to Atlanta for work temporarily and had outgrown it anyway, ultimately we sold it for 30% profit!

Lessons learned? Challenges?

The lesson here was buy what you CAN and MAKE it work! Location will carry you through! It always does!

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

My Mom & Dad are my CA realtors! Vince & Mary Bienek, Sothebys Sonoma