All Forum Posts by: Bryan Andrews

@George Skidis - I’m actually leaving Hawaii, moving back to the Scott AFB area, and am under contract to purchase a duplex in O’Fallon, IL. Sorry if my original post was misleading. 

I really appreciate the advice and perspective. It seems like I should be conservative with any additions/remodeling, aiming to hold onto as much of my own money as I can and increase the property’s cash flow, especially since this is my first step into real estate investing. 

I also noticed the Illinois REIA logo in your signature block and am going to take your advice join now!

Thanks again for the advice!

-Bryan

@Rick Albert - thanks for circling back and sharing that thought! I’ll certainly look through some comps in the area before making any decisions.

@Jonathan Klemm - It goes without saying that I would’ve much rather stayed in Hawaii, but I’m serving Active Duty in the USAF and my tour at Hickam was up so it was time for me to move back to Scott AFB. Silver lining: it will be a little easier for me to get into real estate out here!

I’m considering two separate options for the rental, depending on cost/pay off:

-Simply reconfigure the layout and make it more functional and appealing to renters.

Or

-Add square footage (possibly a bed/bath) and hopefully increase the value, functionality, and what it could bring in for rent.

But seeing as how this is my first investment property my gut is telling me to play it a little more conservative and let these ideas simmer before pulling the trigger.

Rick,

Thanks for the thoughts and input. I’ll keep that all in mind as I put a plan together for the property.

———————

Bryan,

Thanks for the tip on securing the necessary permits, I definitely wouldn’t want to run into any issues down the road. And sorry if my original post was misleading: I’m actually moving from Hawaii back to Southern Illinois, and am purchasing the duplex in Southern Illinois. 

(Side note - it’s great to see someone else spelling the name correctly 😉)

Thanks again to the two of you for the input!

Aloha Bigger Pockets!

How do I assess the value in adding square footage to a property? 

I’m moving to Southern Illinois from Hawaii and am currently under contract to buy a duplex in the area. My plan is to house-hack it with this property and hold onto it as I take my first steps into Real Estate Investing. 

The duplex is 4 bed/2 bath (2 bed/1 bath each) with a total of 1800 square feet. So it’s small and the layout doesn’t offer up the most functionality for the livable space. I’ve been wrestling with the prospect of reconfiguring the layout/adding additional square footage, but since I’m so new to real estate I’m struggling to determine whether or not I would see a return on any of the money I would put into those changes. 

I’ve done my best to research and draft up estimates, but figured I might as well turn to the Bigger Pockets community to see what advice could be had.

Mahalo for your time and thoughts!