All Forum Posts by: Nella DiBenedetto

Hi all! I am a realtor and investor in SLC and would love to ask some questions to local experts (Realtors, property managers, etc) about buying an investment property in St. George! If you are a local expert of the area, please reach out to me, I would love to pick your brain. Thank you! 

Thank you Kyle! I am all in after the main house renovations (I haven't done the ADU conversion yet) at $470k. I haven't had it appraised for the ARV, but the Redfin estimate is around $503k. I am excited about this one! Comps in the neighborhood are around $550-600k.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Bend.

Purchase price: $455,000
Cash invested: $45,000

Bought this home for $45k under asking, knowing the house was on the market for 60 days already, the seller was distressed, the house was cosmetically not appealing (ripped up flooring from water damage, grime and dust everywhere, not well maintained, three dogs and four kids living there), and the high interest rates/the market was scaring the seller. I bought it as my primary, came in and fixed it up for $20k, and rented out two of the rooms.

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

I saw the potential with how distressed the home was (C house) in the PERFECT location (A neighborhood). The home is walking distance to breweries, restaurants, music venues, the river, etc. The house had been on the market for over 60 days, the seller was distressed and the market was turning "for the worst". Everything was in my favor to ask below asking price. My plan is to convert the one car garage into a large studio ADU to add additional income.

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional loan

How did you add value to the deal?

Rehabbing and eventually adding an ADU

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Bend.

Purchase price: $455,000
Cash invested: $45,000

Bought this home for $45k under asking, knowing the house was on the market for 60 days already, the seller was distressed, the house was cosmetically not appealing (ripped up flooring from water damage, grime and dust everywhere, not well maintained, three dogs and four kids living there), and the high interest rates/the market was scaring the seller. I bought it as my primary, came in and fixed it up for $20k, and rented out two of the rooms. My plan is to convert the one car garage into a large studio ADU and add a shed in the yard for storage. The garage as it is currently, isn't big enough for a car and storage at the moment, so we are just using it as a storage unit. Currently I am out of pocket $350/month on my mortgage. Once I complete the garage, I will be cash flowing around $1200-1500.

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

I saw the potential with how distressed the home was (C house) in the PERFECT location (A neighborhood). The home is walking distance to breweries, restaurants, music venues, the river, etc. The house had been on the market for over 60 days, the seller was distressed and the market was turning "for the worst". Everything was in my favor to ask below asking price. I was excited to rehab the property and eventually add an ADU for extra income!

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional loan

How did you add value to the deal?

Rehabbing and eventually adding an ADU

Hi BP fam! I need some advice. I just bought a home as a primary and rehabbed it. My LTV is still too high (due to me only putting 4% down) to pull out the amount of equity that I am wanting to convert the garage into an ADU. I am currently losing about $200/month with just renting rooms out. Once I complete the garage conversion, I will be cash flowing roughly $800-1000/month. I am wanting to renovate next spring, once my tenants leases are up. So my question is, do I wait until next spring when I want to start renovations to see if home prices go up more to pull out a HELOC on my primary? Or do I pull a second mortgage on another one of my investment properties now and start the renovations sooner rater than later? (I will still be cash flowing about $100/month on my investment property after pulling out the amount needed for renovations). Another caveat, I am currently a travel nurse and have "stable income" so my lenders are happy at the moment. I am planning on changing careers in the next 6 months or so and my lender said, depending on how I get paid with my new job, I may need to wait two years to be able to pull any money out of my homes until I prove I have stable income again. So again, should I just pull out a secondary mortgage (while I have "stable income") and start making payments now, or wait and do a HELOC on my primary when I am able to? I would be paying off my secondary mortgage within 4-5 years as well. If all else fails, I can stay in my job for another year or so if need be... but I would rather get out of nursing if possible. Any thoughts or other ideas are much appreciated!! Clearly I don't know what to do... Thank you!!

I should add: Rental income for the main house will be around $2600. Rental income for the ADU will be around $1800. So without the ADU I am $700 in the hole every month. With the ADU, I will be positive $500. And then will just sit and wait for rates to drop so I can cash flow even more.

Hello! I am going back and forth with a deal I am currently in and need BP help! If anyone is familiar with the Bend, OR market please feel free to message me in my inbox so we can chat more. I found a deal in the Old Mill district. House was priced at $499k I low balled at $455k and they accepted it. Comps around it are in the $600-$700ks. It needs a little bit of work on the inside (new flooring and two small walls removed) and I eventually want to change the one car garage into an ADU for dual rental income. I have never bought when interest rates are this high, with a questionable housing market. My question is, if this is a good deal or if I should back out and hold off for now with the high rates? My mortgage without renovating the garage is $3300. If I want a renovation loan for the garage, my mortgage will be around $3900. My interest rate is 6.99%... Not going to lie, this one scares me a bit. Any insight helps! Thank you.

Thank you all for this very helpful information! This makes me feel a lot better knowing I don't have to change everything over to OR and can keep my UT plates and drivers license. Thanks again!

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $420,000
Cash invested: $62,000

I was able to house hack this home. This home already had a separate walk out basement entrance, so I converted the basement into a mother in law apartment that I could live in. I added a wall and a door that locks to the basement to separate the units. I added a washer and dryer downstairs and a kitchenette. I rented out the whole upstairs out, while living in the basement.

Hello! I have been using the house hacking strategy for the past three houses that I have bought in Salt Lake City, UT. I would rent out a portion of my home, while I went off and worked as a travel nurse in other states. I would come back to my primary residence in between contracts (1-2 months at a time before I left again). This time, I am working in Oregon and am purchasing a home to house hack here while I am working... My question to you is, since this is my first time buying out of state and making it my primary residence, do I have to get an OR drivers license and register my car to show that I am living here? Or can I just change my mailing address and pay OR state taxes? After a year of living here, I plan to move back to Salt Lake City, so I don't want to register my car and change my driver's license if I don't have to, but I also want to make sure I am doing everything correctly with the government/my lender etc. Thank you for your insight!