7th deal 9 unit

It was a cold December day. There was at least 4 inches of snow even on the roads. I was driving home from work trying not to crash or get stuck when I saw it. A kiko auction sign and it was for today just 30 mins from then! I stopped by. It was a 9 unit building and a 7 unit building for sale by auction. The 9 unit was fully occupied looked a little janky but not bad. the 7 unit I was able to see all the units as it was nearly vacant. It needed a lot of work but I thought it would be worth it. I waited until it started thinking there was no way I would be able to afford it as all I could invest at the time was 30 grand that a private investor said he could provide for my next deal. It was so cold there was only about 7 people total at the auction and only 2 bidders on the property! I tried to get it but failed at the price of 33,000. At that time the auctioneer said do you want to purchase both at 33 each or just 1. He chose the 7 unit! The other bidder left too! So they asked me if I wanted the 9 unit for 33. The bidders just left so I said no way I want to bid!. I started at 5 to be generous unfortunately one of the other people sitting in the shadows started to bid. He bid me up to 30 until he folded. They added a 10% fee for the auction to make it a total of 33. I had gotten a fully occupied 9 unit for only 33 grand!

 I was excited and scared. The property manager was living in the building 4 free and said that I got the better deal. However there were many city violations on the 9 unit. The deck was looking very dangerous and old. Plus I didn't actually have the money in my account. I wrote the check for 3grand that day and quickly moved money around from my personal account. My investor gave me the money plus an additional 5 grand for repairs.... much to small. However I got a 3 grand proration for taxes and another 2 grand in security deposits. So I thought that wasn't bad at all. I had 10 grand to do repairs because of it. I thought I would trust the in house property manager for the time being because she has been there and knows the ins and outs.(Horrible Idea although it did get me familiar with the property.) I realize now she was not licensed and it was illegal for her to manage it and she did a bad job. She coordinated with a handyman to fix the deck which made me feel a little more at ease. However I inspected all the units and they all were in need of drastic repair even though people were living there. The city inspector talked with me and seen that it was my intention to fix up the property but my budget was tight. So he gave me 2 months to fix 2 units that was the plan and if he liked what I was doing he would give me another 2 months to do another 2 until the property had no violations.My manager ended up replacing some hot water heaters well and fixed up 1 unit well. However the 2nd unit she was supposed to fix she completely jiped me and stole 500 of my money and I ended up having to find another property manager.(best thing ever)He fixed so many violations in just 2 months and fixed up 2 units. He then fixed up 2 more units in 2 more months. He was getting better tenants in and charging better rents. Turned it from looking janky to not bad.

 I have owned it 11 months now and their is only 1 unit left to be repaired. We added coin laundry to the building as there was no laundry at all. Increased the rents got some better tenants in there reduced the taxes from 5000 to 1800. It was hard financially as I spent about 30 grand just in repairs which I didn't have however I have collected over 20grand in rents even with at least 2-3 units being vacant or not paying the whole time. I did have to take another 5 grand loan for some repairs but it has almost paid for itself and I know next year we will be in the major green! I am excited to see a potential 3,000 positive cash flow every month!