Duplex - one LTR and one STR

[Yu Liu]

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $250,000
Cash invested: $40,000

This is my first investment! This is a two unit property in the FSU area of Tallahassee. One is occupied by an older family and the other one I plan to rent out short term or to students since it is near campus. I furnished the smaller unit and currently have it rented through AirBnB which I am grateful to get it booked early

Check the following website for more details: https://winrystays.com

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

The numbers made sense in this deal and I wanted to put what I had learned in my past two years of real estate and finally take action. This was a low risk deal for me as the numbers made it a very safe entry, I only needed one unit occupied for me to cover most of my expenses from PITI. The upside was not only cash flow but all the experience and knowledge I could gain from doing my first deal.

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

I found this on Zillow less than an hour after it was posted. Contacted the seller, who was also an agent and had him work with my agent to figure out the details. Negotiated all wood rot repairs, a new roof for one of the units and $5K back in closing costs.

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional Financing

How did you add value to the deal?

I had the flooring changed to vinyl planks due to previous bad carpets and then furnished the property and did other minor renovations, had a friend take some pictures and made an Airbnb. Renting it out for $300 more a month than I would have originally

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Real estate does not need to be that difficult or complicated. Looking back, would have loved to buy in a more appreciative market as I was mainly focused on cash flow but now that I know, that will be my next goal.