All Forum Posts by: Dominic Seeker

We have an acquisition coming together. The property will be our 4th investment property. The details of the building aren’t needed for this hypothetical but I’ll provide them anyway.

The building is a single family house 2 bed 2 bath in an up and coming saint Louis neighborhood. Price is 100,000. We will need to go conventional so down payment 20,000. We walked through and estimate rehab costs at approx 15,000. 
all in will be 35,000.

Although we are liquid enough to do this deal ourselves but we have a family investor who wants to get involved. They offered to cover the down payment costs of 20,000.

What are some options for how we pay them back and make it worth their while to get involved? Obviously the deal is sweet to us as it is lessening our all in money by 20k, freeing that cash up for other things. The building will rent for 2,000 a month and all costs about 1000 (we pay utilities), profit of 1000/month.

They would provide down payment money and nothing else at all. We manage, repair, and operate.

Any ideas for how to structure this deal would be appreciated! Or is it so limited that we might as well cut them out and just fund it ourselves? Thank you very much! 

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $170,000
Cash invested: $17,000

Our 3rd investment, a single-family home turned duplex by converting its defunct car garage into a beautiful studio apartment! Not quite as old as the others, this one being built in the early 50's. But what this one lacks in history it more than makes up for in cash-flow potential. We plan on vacating the main house soon and with the operating costs of the property already covered by renting the garage studio, our margin will be very good after we get out of here!

Hello everyone,

My name is Dominic Seeker. I am a paramedic and small time real estate investor in the Gateway City - St. Louis, MO. A few years ago my wife (a nurse) and I were tired of paying rent and wanted financial freedom from the costs of living. So we started learning about property investing. We moved into our first property - a 4-family building in 2018 and began rehabbing it until all our units were rented. We found the seller off-market and utilized an FHA loan for acquisition. The following year we found another property, a duplex. We utilized my FHA loan (as we were not yet married) and rehabbed this property as well. The following year we were married and bought our 3rd duplex (where we live now) with 5% down and FHA-like terms as we were technically "upgrading" to a larger home since we were married.

So now, with all of those tools used up, we are at a bit of an impasse for acquiring our next one. We have read about HELOC, cash-out refinance, home equity loans, hard money, etc. But we really cant figure out which is the best one for our situation. I would love advice from the pros here on biggerpockets. You all have answered many questions we had while learning how to do this over the past few years. And I greatly appreciate everyone's experience and expertise. Where should we head next??

Thank you!

Just for some additional details here is what we are working with below:

Property 1 - 4-family, 1B/1b apartments

Purchase price : $130,000 @ 4.5% (about $1150/month)

Rental income : ~$4000/month

Property 2 - Duplex, 2B/1b apartments

Purchase price : $160,000  @ 5% (about $1000/month)

Rental income : ~$3300/month

Property 3 - Duplex, 2B/1b apartments

Purchase price : $170,000 @ 3.25% (about $1000/month)

Rental income : $1500/month (we are occupying one unit)

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $160,000
Cash invested: $15,000

111 year-old french style duplex in The beautiful and trendy Benton Park Neighborhood of St. Louis. Updated and renovated to a modern feel interior while maintaining its classic turn of the century charm on the exterior.

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

We were excited to expand our portfolio and acquire this french beauty. Other than capitalizing on our growing demand for our units by adding more units we were happy to pull this historic property into our collection.

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

This deal, unlike our first, was on market, however we saw here what we did with our first as well. A motivated seller looking to liquidate properties quickly to absolve themselves of maintenance responsibilities. Their business was suffering because of the pandemic however ours was flourishing and we were happy to unburden them of this wonderful structure.

How did you finance this deal?

We financed this deal using again an FHA loan with minimal money down by taking advantage of other local policies, including a grant for first time home-buyers who are first responders. I myself being a paramedic. After all was said and done my down payment was a grand total of nine cents.

How did you add value to the deal?

This house received much needed updating immediately. We upped the curb appeal by improving the entry way, doors, and made the address more visible. We rebuilt the fence around the backyard & improved the yard as a whole by removing old clothes-lines, fenceposts, etc. Some landscaping on the long side of the house was done, as this house is on a corner and receives much attention from the neighborhood. Interior received a full kitchen & bath remodel. Paint, trim, furniture, & historical touches.

What was the outcome?

So far the property has done very well for us. Its larger floor-plan & nice sized yard was a great addition to the options we can offer our tenants. It has remained full since acquisition. And appears to be quite popular as we always have someone lined up to take the keys.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

This property seemed all well during the initial inspection but after taking the keys we discovered a massive collection of various plumbing issues throughout the building. The previous owners had done a bit of creative plumbing with pex, which while I appreciated the upgrade from the original lead, their connections were all wrong. They had hot water supplies running to toilets, leaking pex/copper connections, and flooding in the ceiling of the lower unit which all needed repair.

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

Again we worked with Garcia Properties for the acquisition of this property, once again they helped us get everything in line to acquire this house for only pennies down. As much as that sounds like an infomercial, I wouldn't say it if it weren't true.

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $144,000
Cash invested: $45,000

A 110-year old 4 unit in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood of St. Louis, MO. This house has a large backyard that backs up directly to the neighborhood park & is a top draw amongst our tenants. It has four 1500 square foot apartments, each 1B/1b. Large living spaces, laundry included. Our tenants enjoy included utilities & internet for simplicity, and have easy access to the city's main attractions & travel corridors being less than 10 minutes from downtown.

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

This was an off-market deal which was perfect as our first investment opportunity as we kept being out-matched at the table by cash offers by veteran investors and teams in the area.

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

We were quick to assess the property with a thorough inspection and after some research leading us to find out the owner was looking to offload the property quickly we were able to acquire the property for $144,000 when it was slated to go to market for $165,000

How did you finance this deal?

We made use of our FHA putting minimal money down to get the property in shape quickly to rent. We also lived there during the renovation process to lessen our personal living costs and put more time into the property. This allowed us to quickly bring the building up to standard for us and we welcomed our first tenants within 30 days of beginning renovations. The building has been full nearly the entire time we have owned it.

How did you add value to the deal?

The building was a bit outdated and in need of repair upon closing. We updated kitchens in some. Put new appliances in as well as washers and dryers. Replaced all the windows in the building for added security and power savings. Replaced the front doors to up the curb appeal as well as did some yard work and replaced the front top steps to the building. We installed all new air-conditioning units and furnished all the apartments for the ease of our guests.

What was the outcome?

The property has been a blessing to us as it has remained full nearly the entire time we have had it. Our renters enjoy the added benefit of our hotel style accommodations with furnished units and utilities, internet, etc included so have left us fantastic reviews and kept our word of mouth business growing. We see requests for booking weekly for all 4 units.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

As we have done most of the work on the property ourselves we have learned much about plumbing and electrical systems and just how these old homes will never cease to surprise you with what may go wrong next.

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

We worked with Garcia Properties in St. Louis, MO for the acquisition of the property. They do everything in house from finding the property to finance and guided us through every step of the process to make this an easy and profitable venture.

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $144,000
Cash invested: $45,000

A 110-year old 4 family in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood of St. Louis, MO. This house boasts a large backyard that backs up directly to the neighborhood Mount Pleasant park and is a top drawing property amongst our rental tenants. It has four 1500 square foot apartments, each with 1 bed and 1 bath. Large living spaces. And laundry included. Our tenants enjoy included utilities and internet for simplicity for shorter leases, and easy access to all the city's main attractions and travel corridors being only 4 blocks from interstate access, and less than 10 minutes from downtown. As well as within 1/2 mile walking distance of public transportation.

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

This was an off-market deal which was perfect as our first investment opportunity as we kept being out-matched at the table by cash offers by veteran investors and teams in the area.

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

We were quick to assess the property with a thorough inspection and after some research leading us to find out the owner was looking to offload the property quickly we were able to acquire the property for $144,000 when it was slated to go to market for $165,000

How did you finance this deal?

We made use of our FHA putting minimal money down to get the property in shape quickly to rent. We also lived there during the renovation process to lessen our personal living costs and put more time into the property. This allowed us to quickly bring the building up to standard for us and we welcomed our first tenants within 30 days of beginning renovations. The building has been full nearly the entire time we have owned it.

How did you add value to the deal?

The building was a bit outdated and in need of repair upon closing. We updated kitchens in some. Put new appliances in as well as washers and dryers. Replaced all the windows in the building for added security and power savings. Replaced the front doors to up the curb appeal as well as did some yard work and replaced the front top steps to the building. We installed all new air-conditioning units and furnished all the apartments for the ease of our guests.

What was the outcome?

The property has been a blessing to us as it has remained full nearly the entire time we have had it. Our renters enjoy the added benefit of our hotel style accommodations with furnished units and utilities, internet, etc included so have left us fantastic reviews and kept our word of mouth business growing. We see requests for booking weekly for all 4 units.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

As we have done most of the work on the property ourselves we have learned much about plumbing and electrical systems and just how these old homes will never cease to surprise you with what may go wrong next.

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

We worked with Garcia Properties in St. Louis, MO for the acquisition of the property. They do everything in house from finding the property to finance and guided us through every step of the process to make this an easy and profitable venture.