All Forum Posts by: Adam Fout

@Josh VanLandingham hello Josh. I am a fellow investor who also loves in Marysville. I ran across this post from a couple years ago and wondering id you have found success here locally in Marysville or have you branches out to other cities? I have two properties in town, a fourplex and a duplex. I would love to acquire a few more small multi family properties here locally that I can manage myself but they are not easy to find.

@Kaylee Fox Hi Kaylee and welcome! I am a fellow resident of Marysville and have 6 units in town. My first property I found through direct mail marketing and my second I found on the MLS. Marysville has a lot of demand for affordable rental properties. If you can find one that cash flows, you will have no problem keeping it rented. The challenge of finding one where where the numbers make sense. Good luck in your search and feel free to reach out anytime!

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $116,000
Cash invested: $37,000

This is my second investment property, a 1900's duplex, purchased on the MLS.

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

This duplex was priced very well on the MLS and came with detached garages which demands higher rent.

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

MLS. I made an offer within days of it being listed. I used a local realtor for the negotiations.

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional 30 year mortgage

How did you add value to the deal?

Removed the upstairs tenant when they stopped paying rent. Cleaned up the unit, replaced the 1960's era freestanding heater with electric baseboard heat, painted and new carpet. Now rented to some great tenants.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

This deal was pretty straightforward and I feel like I got lucky and found a great deal on the MLS. The previous owners needed to sell quickly and it presented a great opportunity for me.

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

Katie Crocco of Remaxx Winners, Marysville, OH

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $174,500
Cash invested: $43,625

This four-plex was my first real estate investment and it has been a great learning experience for me. Since the time of purchase, I have increased rents 16% and there is more room to bring them up to market rent. Also, I currently pay the water bill and will look at sub-metering water in the future. I purchased this property off market through direct mail.
I still manage this property myself and I have no plans on selling.

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

Cash flow and opportunity for decreasing expenses and increasing the rent.

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

Off-market through direct mail marketing. I drafted the purchase contract and handled all of the negotiations directly with the seller.

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional 30 year mortgage.

How did you add value to the deal?

New tenant screening, rent increases, cosmetic improvements

What was the outcome?

16% increase in rent over 2 years.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Properties on a slab need to have the main sewer pipes inspected with a camera during the inspection period. Replacing them is a nightmare!

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

Not for this deal.

@Galvin Duesler I have 2 properties so not sure if that warrants forming a property management company.  Are you suggesting I form the property management company or my father?  

@Bob B.  Do you know what kind of insurance my father would get?

My father is retiring in the spring and wants to do handyman work for me on my rentals. This would be ideal for me because I would feel comfortable with giving him keys and let him contact tenants and enter the units as needed for repairs. He is not licensed/bonded/insured. He does not necessarily want to get licensed or start a company or business entity. Am I at risk in any way by hiring him to do the work? I am not concerned about quality of workmanship or him completing work, but I am wondering about liability and insurance if he were to get hurt on one of my properties and file an insurance claim.

My first investment was a fourplex and I had zero prior experience investing in real estate or managing properties. I did spend over a year educating myself primarily through books and BP. I inherited 3 tenants and the vacant unit was left a mess. I spent a couple weeks cleaning it up with new carpet and paint and I had it rented in 2 weeks over the Holidays. What was great is I was still cash flow positive with the 3rd unit vacant. This is the benefit of multi family properties. I would absolutely recommend starting with a fourplex. If you are inheriting tenants, the initial transition can be difficult and require quite a bit of time up front. But once you get through that and properly retrain your tenants, it can be fairly hands-off. Many will recommend staring small and easing into REI. I chose to jump right into a larger unit and do not regret it. Yes it was a bit hectic at first, but there is no better way to learn than actually doing it. Do your due diligence, make sure the numbers are good, draft a solid lease, train your tenants and screen new tenants thoroughly. I also recommend getting an inspection on the property and find an inspector who is willing to do a fourplex, it may be a bit more expensive thanks a single family, but I have found it is worth it!

@Drew Lamb Hey Drew!  I just recently purchased a fourplex in Marysville and have it fully rented. The demand for a nice, reasonably priced apartment in town is unbelievable.  What I discovered is that most landlords in this area do not take care of the units and are overpriced.  I filled a vacant unit in 3 weeks over the holidays!  You can check out the details of the deal here: New Investor in Marysville

I am beginning to search for a multi-family deal, ideally something 2-4 units, but they are hard to come by for a decent price.  I am getting ready to send out some yellow letter to absentee owners of all the multi-family units in town, we will see how that goes.

I do keep an eye on some of the surrounding areas and would like to explore some lower cost areas like Marion, Dayton or some areas of Columbus but for now I am staying local in town.

PM me anytime.  I would love to hear more about your strategy and goals!

Ryan Guthrie I used Rentprep.com last month and I was very pleased with the service. I wanted an online service where I could give the tenants name and social and they give me a background and credit check, that simple. I did not want to mess with getting the tenant involved in the process. I did just that and I had a full report back within 4 hours. (I submitted it early in the morning before they were open). They have 3 package levels you can buy. I chose the middle package and added a credit check, total was around $32. They do not give you a full credit report, you tell them your criteria based on credit score, and they tell you if your tenant passes. I liked this feature. Fortunately I found an all star tenant with nothing on his record so I did not get to see how they report details of any past records. Rentprep is easy and straightforward. Most of the other sight want to provide screening services and make the process more complex. That may be great for larger companies, but for someone like me with one property, simple was better!

Jen Lucas I think the others hit the nail on the head, capital expenditures could easily drain your reserves if Murphy rears his ugly head. Budget monthly for these major expenses and re-calculate your cash flow. You may need to add a few more duplexes to you portfolio. I live in Marysville, OH so Dayton is a short drive away for me. I am curious how are you finding deals in Dayton and what is your criteria? What has your experience been so far with your current Duplex? I ask because I am beginning to explore lower priced markets in this area. I currently own a fourplex in Marysville and starting to look for another multi family property. Prices here are pretty high and multi families are hard to come by.