All Forum Posts by: Dave Velasquez

We have have 11 STRs in Anchorage. They do great in summer and shoulder seasons, winter months they do about 10% over what we would make in an LTR lease monthly. The trick is scale and automation. We still handle guest communication but we have a cleaner on staff who makes maintenance/repair requests and handles supplies and orders. If your doing your own turn overs, your going to hate your life. Between airport and downtown is the ticket but STR operators in almost any part of town can do well. There is a push by the Anchorage assembly to "License" STRs which will lead to restrictions of some kind within a few years most likely.

@Jake Andronico Density or Sprawl! True. Here in Anchorage the assembly just changed the rules so that ADUs of up to 1200sf can be built on lots with ANY zoning. We are severely land constrained and were in short supply of housing. Pricing and rents reflect that.

Alaska is cruel mistress this time of year. keeps threatening to be spring and then snows again. I spend about half my time here in Reno so its not as painful. The fishing is world class and you should definitely come see us. Summer is incredible. Worth the trip for sure! 

Hi Ally, welcome to BP! Im new to Reno but I have a few STRs back home in Alaska. Do you have STRs here in the Reno area? If so i would be interested to hear your thoughts. 

We have just started to look for flips in Reno, would love to get in touch with wholesalers as well.

ADUs are emerging as part of the solution in almost every housing constrained jurisdiction. Stoked to see this option open up in Reno. As with any addition to housing stock, this option must overcome the hoard of NIMBYs, but I like its chances. 

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $450,000
Cash invested: $30,000

a noncontiguous 4 unit comprised of a single family house, s duplex, and a small one bedroom house in west anchorage

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

multifamily has great fundamentals and I have always liked this food group

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

I purchased this from an ex girlfriend who I had helped find and purchase the property originally. She wanted to move to California so I made her a good offer on the property, we came to terms, and off she went.

How did you finance this deal?

This was creative. we left the current loan in place and the seller owner financed the property to us. we basically assumed the mortgage without telling the bank. It was a risky move in a legal gray area but thats where the deal led us and we followed along. after 3 years we refinanced the whole deal into a conventional loan.

How did you add value to the deal?

Remodeled the house. the downstiars unit of the duplex was a 1500 sqft one bedroom. We turned it into a 3 bedroom and move the kitchen to the front of the building. The one bed house was a mess, so we cleaned that up and turned it into an airbnb unit that has been profomring really well for the last 5 years. This was a fun deal that I would do again.

What was the outcome?

Its our best preforming property. this one does really well and were super stoked with how it turned out. It will need a new roof in the next few years so were saving for that.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

be open to creative financing and understand what is important/valuable to the other side. maybe they just wanna move. I gave the seller 20k cash to help with moving costs and we took it off the sale price. that made all the difference. understand what is possible. this one had 2 extra bedrooms and an airbnb hidden in it. we had to be able to see that value and make the deal factoring in those pieces of value.

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

Figure 9 Real Estate

Investment Info:

Large multi-family (5+ units) buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $425,000
Cash invested: $14,500

bootleg 5 unit purchased as a 4 unit with a lot of cap ex needed.

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

we really like multifamily

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

I found this thru an agent off the MLS

How did you finance this deal?

This was an FHA Deal

How did you add value to the deal?

We had main riser leaks due to old copper pipes that had corrosion and were springing pinhole leaks likley due to disimalr metals being used in the system creating "galvanic corrosion". it was a big job but we did it all ourselves. went ahead and replaced the main hot and cold risers from the boiler room to the third floor. We also added washer and dryer to one unit that didnt have it on the top floor and created more parking by adjusting landscaping and extending the driveway.

What was the outcome?

We were able to move rents to market rate and get rid of a lot of the problem tenants. the building has made a lot of money for us since we were able to get 5 units for the price of 4.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

We don't love the flat roof on this one. We would avoid flat roofs in the future. Second, understanding the scope of a project going into it is important, we didn't really know how much work it would be to correct the plumbing issue. ultimately it made sense and the building is doing well but we bit off a lot more then we had intended to chew during that part.

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

Figure 9 Real Estate

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $325,000
Cash invested: $11,500

This was one of the first 4 plexs I ever bought. We bought this and lived in one unit. It was a bank owed property so it was vacant when we purchased it.

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

We needed a place to live and didn't want to rent or buy a single family house as that didn't make a lot of sense. We wanted a 4 unit for the security of multiple tenants.

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

I found this thru a real estate agent. it was 4 plex on a duplex lot so we made two offers to the bank. Offer 1 was based on the bank getting a grandfathered in letter from the city at 350,000. Offer 2 was in the event they could not get the letter from the city we would pay 325,000. Ultimately they were unable to get the letter so we paid 325k

How did you finance this deal?

FHA 1st time home buyer

How did you add value to the deal?

We did a few updates but really just rented up the units. we knew it would cashflow at market rents.

What was the outcome?

Things went well and continue to go well at this property. we have had it painted and updates certain things, remodeled units as needed and changes appliances but its been a good property and we have a significant equity position since we purchased in 2009 .

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Just go for it. the fear in your first deal will always be there, but you have to move forward cause you cant steer a car that isnt moving. you can turn the wheel for hours in the driveway and plan your rout but you have to release the parking break and start going. even if your in reverse, at least you know your first step is to change the direction of travel. but in the driveway, with the break set, all the steering and gear shifting and analyzing wont get you anywhere. pop that clutch baby!

@Stephen J Davis Great advice and congrats to you students! Local meetups have been tough thru covid but we like the idea of getting around passive investors. We have a handful we are talking with outside of our normal network of investors. 

@Eric Johnson oh perfect! Alright we’ll give you a call in the morning