All Forum Posts by: Christopher Reeder

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Auburndale.

Purchase price: $55,000

Basic 3/2 SFR in a mature, entry-level neighborhood

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

With our first rental performing, we capitalized on the low property values with a newer home in foreclosure.

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

MLS. As with first property, we made a simple counteroffer to the bank on this foreclosure and picked it up at a good value.

What was the outcome?

Closed on property and added tenant. Tenant is still in property.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Tenant management.....Property hasn't turned over since original purchase. Investment to bring property back to rent-ready condition has been a drawback for raising rents. In 2019, we are evaluating this theory and looking to maximize this unit with near-market rates and investing back into the property now.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Auburndale.

Purchase price: $56,000

Foreclosure of a SFR in downtown Auburndale

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

First investment property to break the ice.

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

MLS. Selling agent stated bank would not negotiate but we made a counteroffer anyway. Bank accepted even though property had only been listed for 3 days.

How did you finance this deal?

Cash offer funded by self-directed IRA funds.

How did you add value to the deal?

Property was move-in ready and our experience didn't lend to having the knowledge of value-add at the time.

What was the outcome?

Closed and added a tenant. Have turned property over 4 times since first acquisition and made some major system repairs (roof, AC, plumbing). From my knowledge on BiggerPockets, I am revisiting property to evaluate value-add, rents and cash-out for new investment.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Tenant management was learned through trial and error. Being the first property, repairs were not a concern, but managing the rents and tenant agreements has been eye-opening. Current rents are well below market because I was focused on having tenants to cover costs without turnover.

$5k for repairs.  Budget was $2k but plumbing unknowns have hurt the estimate.

Rents were $0/$565 at time of purchase (one tenant moved out during closing that was at $465).  Rents are now $675/$750 (1/1 and 2/1).

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $80,000

Duplex with detached carport/laundry

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

This was my first duplex property. I had been looking for a short time and found this property which I felt could, at worse, break even.

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

Off-market email list. Didn't negotiate because property came with hurricane damage which I felt was appropriately priced into the asking price. Rents were also below market.

How did you finance this deal?

Hard money loan.

How did you add value to the deal?

Repaired hurricane damage to carport. Old oak tree took out 1/2 of the carport and made it unusable.

What was the outcome?

Closed on property and made repairs (took much longer than anticipated). Increased rents on both tenants and are in process of evaluating a refinance to pull repair/investment $$ out of the property.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Though the repair costs were 40% cheaper than other quotes I had, the time to complete took much longer than I thought. I had to make some concessions to tenants on rent to keep them calm while they were forced to go to laundry facilities to clean their clothes.

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $75,000

Duplex needing some minor repairs and a buildable lot

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

The property was an off-market listing. While viewing the property, I made contact with the owner who was showing it. Found out her and her brother were tired of being the landlord, only property they had, and wanted to sell. Through conversation, learned the empty lot next door was also owned and needed to be part of the selling package. Negotiated the purchase price to include the lot.

How did you add value to the deal?

Changed out joulsey windows, updated electrical, reconditioned storage structure in back of property.

What was the outcome?

Closed on purchase and in process of completing repairs for plumbing. Have added new tenant at current market rate and in process of updating MTM tenant with new rate.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Don't underestimate repairs just because tenants currently occupy the property. Found out the plumbing was in very poor condition for 1 unit but tenant didn't complain until after sale had gone through.