All Forum Posts by: Amanda Salovitch

@Clara Brechtel Good question! It was complicated. The sellers didn't have their financials in order. It was hard to even find someone in Maine to appraise the property so it took a couple months to get someone in there and we had to pay $5,000 out of pocket for it. They used a combination of market rent and some comparable properties to value it. One of the comps was a campground. 

@Sean Delisle haha that's awesome! Thank you! Fortunately for me it's only about an hour from where I live!

@Hector Rubio How to Invest in Real Estate is a great book!

Yes, thank you! We are planning to build more treehouses and potentially some "glamping" sites as well. 

Investment Info:

Other other investment.

Purchase price: $700,000
Cash invested: $175,000

I purchased three treehouses that are short term rentals. They sit on 56 acres in Western Maine. This property is also a small business (18 hole disc golf course & convenience store) that is operated by my business partner. If you are interested in renting visit our website www.inthetreesmaine.com

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

I was looking for short term rentals in Maine because we are the Vacationland!

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

It was listed on the MLS. We offered $15k under asking which they accepted. It was hard to find someone to appraise it because it is a very complicated appraisal with very few comps. The appraisal came in lower than our offer so we were able to renegotiate and get it for $25k under asking price in the end.

How did you finance this deal?

We did a commercial mortgage with 25% down and I split that with my business partner

What was the outcome?

The treehouses are booking fast on AirBNB. We have multiple income streams from this property, the rentals, disc golf fees and the items we sell at the store.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

This purchase was complicated because we are truly starting a business not just purchasing real estate. I had to build create a brand, start a website, develop a social media following, figure out how to sync booking software, purchase inventory, etc. so it has been a huge learning curve!

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

I represented myself on this deal. I am an investor friendly real estate agent!

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $159,000

Purchase price: $159,000
Renovation: $15,000
ARV: $265,000
Rent: $2,000/month
Cashflow: $800/month

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

I read the BRRRR book by David Greene

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

This was a rare short sale on the market. I offered cash, asking price and no contingencies. Because it was a short sale it took three months to close, but it was worth the wait.

How did you finance this deal?

We used hard money from a man that my husband works with. He gave us the $159k for the deal at 10% interest for 6 months and no fees. We used our own money to finance the rehab then we refinanced after three months and took out 70% to pay back our lender and ourselves.

How did you add value to the deal?

Trash removal, new flooring, new toilet, painted interior and exterior, new appliances, new fixtures, fixed plumbing and electrical issues.

What was the outcome?

This was my first text book BRRRR. On the other deals I have done I have ended up leaving some money in the deal which is fine, but it was so nice to get all of our capital back on this one.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

We did the rehab ourselves and I was 9 months pregnant and ended up having the baby in the middle of the project so it took a little longer than we wanted, but in the end it all worked out and we even paid our private lender back a few weeks early! In the future I will probably sub out more of the work, but it is really hard to find contractors in this area.

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

I represented myself as an agent and I used Bangor Savings Bank for the refinance.

Getting my first vacation rental and realizing furnishing it is more expensive than I thought! Any tips for where to get stuff cheap?