Ghent Triplex House Hack - VA Rehab Loan

[Collin Blackburn]

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $387,000
Cash invested: $7,500

VA Rehab Loan Triplex House Hack

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

I wanted to find a house hack in a great area. Ghent is a great place to live and the numbers on a house hack are a lot better than other places in Norfolk/Virginia Beach. Most neighborhoods similar to Ghent don't have multifamily. We also really like how close Ghent is to the hospital and ODU.

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

This deal was on the MLS. The deal had been on the market for a month or so and the sellers were willing to drop the price about $15,000.

How did you finance this deal?

We financed the deal with a VA rehab loan.

How did you add value to the deal?

The VA rehab added significant value, but we also painted, put in new floors and added washer/dryers to the units.

What was the outcome?

We moved out and purchased a detached home (that we've turned into a house hack) when we found out my wife was pregnant. Now we rent our old unit and collect good cashflow from the property.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Do not use a rehab loan in a historical district. We got it done, but we will never use a rehab loan in a historical district again. There were a few repairs required by VA that we had to get approval from the city to do (windows, paint, etc.). The city took forever to approve the repairs, which meant it took forever for the contractor's bids to get approved. We were in escrow for 6 months! Luckily I had somewhere to stay during that time, but it could have been really tough.