All Forum Posts by: Caitlin Brown Tuinstra

@Matt M. Thanks Matt for your thoughts! I agree, 10 bedrooms is a lot and most families don’t have 7 children like the family that originally built the house in 1914. Although it’s 10 bedrooms now it could, with a little effort be turned into a very comfortable 4 bedroom 4 bath house. The attic alone has 4 bedrooms + storage room. I would convert the whole floor into a master suite. Two den sized rooms would become his/hers walk-in closets, one turned into a master suite nursery or sitting room, and the final one adjoins a tiny bathroom that can be opened up.

Of the six rooms on the second floor, two sets are adjoining with pass-thru doors, thus the two smaller attached rooms would become either sitting rooms or walk-in closets, or even into a much needed second floor laundry room (currently in basement). I also plan to open up the one bedroom at the landing of the stairs to create a formal “landing” area. So that would take away one bedroom.

My engineer has confirmed that all walls coming down are non-load bearing and I can do most of the hammer swinging and plaster/trim repairs myself. I think these changes would make the house much more desirable and marketable. What are your thoughts?

@Jennifer Pauyo Hey, from Hagerstown, MD! Brand new to the BP community. Currently taking the MD salesperson licensing course, and recently purchased my second live-in flip in Hagerstown. Congrats to all the successful ladies here!! And good luck to all those starting out!

Season Price:  Thanks for the suggestion! 

Inspiring indeed! I love it that you set such a high goal for yourself, a goal which many would say is unattainable at such a young age. I'm 31 as well, but I'm struggling to get past the stage I'm in currently. You reminded me that when I set specific and firm goals for myself in the past that I have done things which others told me I couldn't or shouldn't, like buy my first home at the age of 22 (my goal was 21, but I was close!). Keep up the great work, and best of luck to you in your future endeavors.

Also, if you're willing to do a little coaching I would love to throw out a few scenarios I have in mind and get your advice. Peace.

Ruth Lyons: Would you be willing to discuss in more details your reasoning for avoiding Hagerstown? I recently purchased a home there and am deciding how best to capitalize on the investment, and whether I should do any future investing in the area. Thanks in advance!

Thanks again Austin for the kind words. I truly want to keep this house, it's so beautiful and full of potential. I just wish I knew the best strategy to capitalize on it and move on to the next level of investing. I want to make flipping/rentals my full-time career but, I don't know how to get there. And, I don't want to bastardize this lovely historic home or neighborhood by turning this particular home into a chopped up rental. A different house, on a different street, where there are other rentals, sure. But, wouldn't I be doing a disservice to everyone around me if I did that to this house? Am I worrying about the wrong things here? Please help. Thanks again.

Thanks guys for your responses!

Joseph: I don't think there's much pull in Hagerstown, now or historically speaking. There just isn't that much in the way of attractions in this sleepy town, but I'll do more research on it to see if there are other such rentals around here doing well. But, I appreciate the input. I, too, would hate to divide the house up into apartments. It's got a lovely 3 story central staircase with a banister that would have to be covered with drywall in order to make separate units possible. What a shame that would be.

Austin: Thanks for the input Austin! I wonder if there's a proper way to rent out rooms or "units" without having to chop up the house and adding separate entrances and meters. Seems very complicated. It's not something I've tackled before.

Delonte: Your idea is great! I've been thinking of that option lately, but, how would/should I go about it? Should I rent the entire home out as a short stay vacation rental like Joseph suggested, or have multiple rooms for rent? I could even make the basement into my own living quarters and be sort of closed off from the rest of the house.

Tato: Thanks so much! I didn't know much about Hagerstown before I moved here two years ago, but the house captivated me and I may have impulsively bought into its charm.

Two years ago I purchased this beautiful three story 10 bedroom brick foursquare in the North End of Hagerstown, on a historic tree lined street (Oak Hill Ave). I purchased at 305k with a 60k down payment from the proceeds of my previous live-in flip (this is only my 2nd purchase, so I'm still new at this!). Now that I'm beginning to tackle renovations using income from my day job, I'm stuck trying to decide whether to renovate to flip or renovate to hold? With 10 bedrooms and a huge basement that could turn into a studio apartment there's tons of rental opportunity here. But, what about my neighbors? What about compliance with city regulations? What about separate metering? So much consideration goes into turning a single family into an apartment building essentially. And, it'll be my very first time landlording if I go this route. On the other hand, the house just across the street recently sold for 445k, and another is being listed for 499k a few blocks down. Both homes show very well (not flips). The first is 1,000 sqft smaller, while the other is 300 sqft larger. I believe if I put between 30k-50k into quality upgrades (I do most of the work myself) I could possibly sell for 500k or more. So, what would you do BP investors? Anyone familiar with the Hagerstown market please chime in!

*I'd like to quickly add that my ultimate goal is to utilize a combination of judicious flips and long term rentals as a vehicle to build enough passive income to quit my job and finally LIVE. Thru completing my first live-in flip I've realized a passion in the flipping process and would continue doing this as an additional wealth building tool. I would like to be able to do this in the shortest amount of time as possible. Any guidance is sincerely appreciated.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment.

Purchase price: $305,000
Cash invested: $2,000

With the proceeds from my first Live-In flip I was able to acquire this beautiful pre 1920's brick foursquare on a historic street in North End Hagerstown, MD. With 10 bedrooms and three levels above ground at 4188 sqft and another 1000+ sqft below, it is one heck of an investment opportunity! I am currently doing a live-in flip on this property similarly to my first investment, where I use only cash saved from the day job for renovations which I complete mostly myself. I'm projecting the total renovation cost to be around 30K.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment in Capitol Heights.

Purchase price: $97,900
Cash invested: $30,000
Sale price: $212,000

This was my first property purchased with the goal of rehabbing using income from the day job. This was a live-in flip, as it took me 7 years, but 90% of the work was done by me by hand, with the more complicated repairs (electrical, plumbing, foundation repair) being contracted. Property located in my hometown of Capitol Heights, MD, just across the border to SE Washington, DC. Four days after listing the property a bidding war ensued which drove the price up 12K above my asking price of 200K.

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

As a kid I remember my mom buying her first house in her late thirties after many years of renting. Over the years I watched her install flooring, paint cabinets, and turn a porch into a four season addition. I was always amazed at what she could do, even if I didn't know anything about sweat equity. As a teen and young adult I would spend hours on end watching HGTV and DIY Network. At 18 my goal was to save enough to purchase my first home by age 21...which I missed by two months!

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

I have an amazing aunt who is a great Realtor. She showed me at least 15 homes before settling on this adorable cape cod in the neighborhood I grew up in. This was a traditional home purchase with conventional financing. And, because I was eligible for all types of first-time homebuyer deals I paid less than $800 down!! I also qualified for a 5K forgivable loan forgiven after living in the home for 5 consecutive years, which I did.

How did you add value to the deal?

Making around $14 per hour at the time of purchase my budget for renovations was clearly tight, but because I had so much time to work with and Youtube tutorials I was able to learn how to make quality upgrades to this tiny home on the super cheap. When I bought the house there was only subfloor. I installed new hardwood flooring, built all new cabinetry and kitchen seating from scratch, painted everything top to bottom, gutted and renovated the bathrooms, and the list goes on.

What was the outcome?

My all-in cost for renovations was nearly 30k. About 15k went to steel i-Beaming the entire basement due to a failing foundation wall. Another 5k went to new siding. The remaining 10k was spent on materials, tools, and smaller electrical and plumbing contractor work. My initial loan for the house was $123,900 at 5.25%. My asking price was 200k. Within four days I had several offers hiking my sale price to $212,000. At closing I netted over 80k, which I used as a downpayment on my current home.