First purchase 'Buy and Hold' was a Duplex in 2019

[Brendon Crain]

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $140,000
Cash invested: $28,000

Duplex is located within walking distance of KU, main shopping venues, and a good elementary school.
These 650 sq' units come with 2 bedrooms and a full bath, a stacked washer/dryer, and a big backyard.

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

Try something new, and create a 'Plan B' that would allow us to retire as early as possible. We love, value, and appreciate one's ability to create their own life.

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

Through a friend that I work with at the FD. The previous owner ended up being the father of another firefighter that I worked with.

How did you finance this deal?

Purchased this property with money made off a flip in Overland Park, KS. That money, paired with my parent's 50% contribution, allowed us to purchase this property in early 2019.

How did you add value to the deal?

We did a comp of the area & found it was currently renting about $300 under the market average. With one of the units being empty, we were able to update the kitchen, bathroom and apply a better paint scheme.
By doing this we were able to secure a tenant @ $700 a month and now we are renting each unit @ $750. Our plan is to increase rent by $50 per month, per side for 2022, and then gradually increase it by 5% until we reach $875 a side.
We would be able to max to $950 by adding mini-split

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Thorough background checks are a must. We inherited a nightmare tenant due to poor due diligence by the previous owner. We DID learn a lot through that eviction process.

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

No