All Forum Posts by: Collin Blackburn

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $387,000
Cash invested: $7,500

VA Rehab Loan Triplex House Hack

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

I wanted to find a house hack in a great area. Ghent is a great place to live and the numbers on a house hack are a lot better than other places in Norfolk/Virginia Beach. Most neighborhoods similar to Ghent don't have multifamily. We also really like how close Ghent is to the hospital and ODU.

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

This deal was on the MLS. The deal had been on the market for a month or so and the sellers were willing to drop the price about $15,000.

How did you finance this deal?

We financed the deal with a VA rehab loan.

How did you add value to the deal?

The VA rehab added significant value, but we also painted, put in new floors and added washer/dryers to the units.

What was the outcome?

We moved out and purchased a detached home (that we've turned into a house hack) when we found out my wife was pregnant. Now we rent our old unit and collect good cashflow from the property.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Do not use a rehab loan in a historical district. We got it done, but we will never use a rehab loan in a historical district again. There were a few repairs required by VA that we had to get approval from the city to do (windows, paint, etc.). The city took forever to approve the repairs, which meant it took forever for the contractor's bids to get approved. We were in escrow for 6 months! Luckily I had somewhere to stay during that time, but it could have been really tough.

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $590,000
Cash invested: $140,000
Sale price: $820,000

Four homes zoned SF that we purchased from the same buyer like it was a quadplex.

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

Cash flow and appreciation of the neighborhood.

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

We found this deal on the MLS and negotiated a lower price because we wanted to purchase all four SFHs.

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional Investment Loan

How did you add value to the deal?

We did a lot of cosmetic work on the interiors, put up fences to separate the yards, and put in back yard patios.

What was the outcome?

We collected cash flow on the property for a few years and did improvements to the property when the leases turned over so we could raise rents. Money continued to flow into the neighborhood and our property values went up until we decided to sell.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

We underestimated what these properties were going to rent for by a couple hundred dollars. We took the listing agent's opinion and did some due diligence but not enough. We didn't get the numbers we expected. Fortunately, time solves almost all problems in real estate and the rent went up to what we expected after a year or two.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $395,000
Sale price: $469,000

First RE purchase ever. House Hack. Rented out the other bedrooms and the rent covered the mortgage.

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

I was signing my first ever rental lease and wondered how much the landlord was making off of me and my friends. I looked up the price of his property/estimated mortgage and decided I never wanted to rent again! As soon as my lease was over I bought my first house and rented the other bedrooms.

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

This deal was on the MLS. We offered list price and negotiated some repairs.

How did you finance this deal?

VA Loan

How did you add value to the deal?

The property was turn key.

What was the outcome?

I sold the house for a nice profit a few years later when I got stationed in Virginia. I never cash-flowed on the property, but the rent always covered the mortgage. I got to live for free for a few years, pay down the debt, and then sell for a nice profit!

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I learned how drastic of an effect offsetting my housing expense had.

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $117,000
Cash invested: $35,000

Contributors:
Remington Blackburn

First multifamily property! Low maintenance duplex. (Sorry these are old investment posts, but I'm trying to add all my investments to my profile! There are going to be 7 more of these posts trickling in over the next week unless I figure out another way to do it)

We might be looking to sell this one at the beginning of next year (Looking at selling for the same reasons we sold our quad... ROI vs. Return on Equity).

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

Cash flow. I had purchased a handful of single family homes in the past before I found Bigger Pockets. I hadn't ever thought about multifamily before Bigger Pockets turned me on to it. The cash flow numbers for multifamily were so much better than single family and this was the first place I found and liked!

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

This deal was on the MLS. It had been on the market for a while so we offered about $15,000 below list. We were ready to meet in the middle but the seller accepted. The inspection showed that the foundation needed to be repaired (about $12,000 total). We asked the seller to pay for all the repairs but we were going to be willing to split the repairs 50/50. The seller accepted our offer though and paid for the entire repair!

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional Investment Loan

How did you add value to the deal?

The property was turn key.

What was the outcome?

We've had a great investment property that has required minimal maintenance. One of the tenants struggled with rent and made partial payments due to Covid for a few months but they are back on track.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

We have reserves, but this solidified how important it is to have sufficient reserves in the event of uncontrollable circumstances.

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $247,000
Cash invested: $67,000
Sale price: $360,000

We bought this turnkey property for the ~$1800 monthly cash flow. Over the two years we owned it, the rents stayed the same but the property appreciated by almost 50%. Our ROI was great, but our return on total equity in the property had gone down significantly. We decided to sell to free up the cash.

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

Cash flow and potential appreciation in the area because of the St. Paul's Area Revitalization.

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

This deal was on the MLS. It was fairly priced so we offered full price.

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional Investment Loan

How did you add value to the deal?

The property was rehabbed when we purchased it.

What was the outcome?

Great cash flow for the two years we owned it and a significant increase in purchase price when we sold.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

We had a few lessons learned on this property:
-Return on Investment vs. Return on Equity
-Speculating on price increases is a lot less stressful when you have significant cash flow
-Renting to Section 8 tenants was not an issue to us at all

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

I worked with my wife, Remi Blackburn, who is an agent.