First of two 3-family purchases in Charlestown (Boston), Massachusetts! I began this endeavor as a long-term rental landlord and maintained that position until 2016 when I diversified and went all-in on AirBnB; an endeavor that increased my gross monthly income by 75% year-over-year from 2016 through the present. As well, I am proud to have somehow powered my AirBnB business through the 2020 (and beyond) Covid-19 Pandemic during a time that our industry was utterly decimated!

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

I bought this alongside the other, so same story as the last... as early as 12 perhaps, my mother - who is a Korean-American immigrant - engrained in me two defining principles that have literally guided me to the here-and-now:

1 - Invest in real estate
2 - Work for yourself

So that's what I decided to do at age 20 as a college-undergrad who didn't feel as if the traditional path of Bachelors Degree - graduate - Masters Degree - graduate - 9-to-5 until retirement was the route for me.

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

I found this opportunity alongside my mother who was integral in that purchase, particularly being so young myself. At the time, Charlestown was still considered a neighborhood you didn't want to be, and though much of our process was simple-minded and far from analytical, we rolled the dice and pursued the opportunity based on a rather street-level intuition of knowing that a location like Charlestown would not stay that way forever.

How did you finance this deal?

Maxed out on a traditional loan with Citizen's Bank and then found a private lender who covered the difference. I will admit that being uneducated to that world, it probably wasn't the smartest move, and today, I'd exercise far more diligence, but it all worked out in the end!

How did you add value to the deal?

I invested cosmetic improvements into each of the 3-units year-over-year to drive long-term rental rates north as the rental market slowly appreciated through 2016. In 2016, I undertook massive renovations to max-out my AirBnB position, and it paid off nicely!

What was the outcome?

Exceptional - truly! I bought for $750,000, and today, I own one of the last multifamily buildings in the whole of Boston and am approached constantly by Realtors who pitch a sales price of $3.5 million. I am never selling, and certainly not any time soon.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I learned quite a bit with the purchase including how much you can really leverage your debt in order to limit your liquidity exposure. Simply, it was an amazing investment that taught me a lot about the investment game from the ground up!

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

Not particularly. I purchased directly from the owner in a private off-market sale after she failed to sell it while it was active on the market. I do recall that plenty of neighbors had a lot of interest in purchasing for themselves, but did not, and a lot of them telling me I was "crazy" for over-paying by at least "$200,000", but I was young, I knew I had years ahead of me - or at least I felt that way - and I just saw it as an opportunity I'd regret if I didn't seize it!