Decision to Rehab and Rent

[Charles Borkert]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $1,000
Cash invested: $15,000

I had an old farm house I rehabbed and now have rented.

It’s on a 40 acre property I own.

There is another unit on the same 1.2 acre portion of the property which I’m currently in the process of rehabbing.

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

I’ve always wanted to invest in real estate and was just too busy working on my businesses to do so.

Then one day I just decided to dive in.

The farm house had set vacant for many years. But it was sound and I own it outright.

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

The deal with the property happened in 1998. It was a 40 acre piece of property 12 miles from downtown San Antonio, Texas.

It is owner financed and has 3 dwellings on it.

It was originally purchased so I could operate a Turfgrass business from it.

How did you finance this deal?

Owner Financed

How did you add value to the deal?

I added two more dwellings with septic systems.

Now I’ve done an extensive rehab on the original farm house.

Next will be the double wide that is on the 1.2 acre cutout that the original farm house sits on.

Thus making the property a duplex.

Albeit two separate dwellings.

What was the outcome?

Fantastic!

Lessons learned? Challenges?

The next project is the renovation on the double wide.

I will write a much more detailed and binding remodel contract with the contractor.

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

No.