All Forum Posts by: Ethan Perry

Welcome to BP my friend @Ben S.! There is a wealth of information in those podcasts and on the forums as well.

We are in Stafford and have been active investors for about a year now and my wife is an agent as well. We are finishing up a couple projects and are looking to acquire another. We are primarily looking for flipping opportunities with a goal to buy 2 rentals by the end of the year.

Let me know if we can help you in any way!

Hey everybody, a quick update. 

We were able to connect with another local wholesaler and get the deal closed with an investor who is very active in the area. 

The wholesaler contacted us through Bigger Pockets and had a cash buyer ready to go. The end buyer took ownership of our contract sight unseen and was ok with the tenant issue. Once we had a ratified contract I spoke with the tenants again and they left the property. 

Thanks for all of the feedback, I really appreciate it and I hope 2017 is off to a great start for you all. 

Alright guys I have an update! 

I was at the county planning department office today to pull permits for another project and this is what I was able to find.

1. It is not zoned R-4 it is zoned R-3 (didn't get over to zoning to see if that mattered & not sure why tax record says Residential-4)

2. I will need to get drawings from an architect or structural engineer

3. I will need to pull permits for plumbing, electrical and mechanical

4. Units will need to be split by "GIS" to reflect 2 addresses 

5. 1hr rated firewall must separate the 2 units 

#5 is the kicker for me. The home is laid out as a SFH with a walk out basement currently. My idea was to use a "stacked" design for the two units. After speaking with the folks at the planning department they warned that my desired layout would be quite the undertaking. In a "normal" duplex conversion you would split vertically by simply putting up a wall. Since mine is stacked it would require the fire wall to be in the subfloor/ceiling which they insinuated would kill any profitability for me. Im not sure how much something like that would cost..any ballpark estimates?

@Christian Jones thank you for that, that is a wealth of info! I wasn't able to find the zoning uses when I searched just yet but will keep digging. A lot to sort through 

@Eddy Dumire thanks for the feedback. The property is in Woodbridge so PWC. 

> Keeping purchase price plus rehab under 300k would be the goal. 1% rule says 3k would be the acceptable rent which is the max I can squeeze out of that property. More likely 2700-2900 for both units. 

> I've attached a deal analyzer sheet we use detailing what I would expect rehab numbers to be to bring it to a very nice retail level. I wouldn't have to do 68k in repairs if I held it as a rental (maybe I will with the firewall) 

Wow, I can't imagine doing a deal that big on the other side of the country. Sounds like a good one though @Jay Hinrichs  Did it get damaged during Matthew? Good luck finishing it up

@Jay Hinrichs Hopefully you're right about the R-4 designation. I will keep you posted as I get more info

@Jay Hinrichs Called and I will have to walk in for an appointment lol It's currently zoned R-4 Residential which I assumed. Guy told me I would need to have at least a 4500sq ft lot for a duplex which is good it's got 11k. Hopefully they would be willing to consider rezoning, they said it was going to be primarily based on what the long term usage was zoned for. Going to be a long 3 day wait to talk to them Tuesday.

@Jay Hinrichs got it, thank you for this. I will give them a call right now and see what I can dig up! Stuck in the office right now or I would walk in like you said.

Thanks for the advice @Seth Borman we are working on that today. Have you had experience splitting a single family home into a duplex or house hacking? Ok if no, just trying to gain a feel for that process.

Hello All, happy new year! I hope 2017 is off to a good start for you!

We visited with a seller today who called in response to a letter we sent. To make a long story short the seller is elderly, has been in the home for 40 years, and will be moving out of the state in a couple months. We would like to purchase the property but I think it has more potential then a SFH.

As it sits the home is a 5 bed 2 bath. 3/1 on the main level, 2/1 down stairs. Lower level has its own entry point. The home is in great shape just very dated and would need cosmetic updating.

Our thoughts for exit strategies are as follows in order of interest...

1. House Hack. Live up top, rent out bottom, will need to add kitchen down stairs

2. Rezone to duplex. Seal units off, split utilities, the works

3. Buy or Wholesale the property to renovate as SFH

4. List it retail (my wife is a realtor)

We have never done something like this so not sure where to start. What would I need to be able to rezone to a duplex? Is that even what I would need to do? Do I still need to do that if I live in one of the units? I really want to get into rentals and think creatively to do so but is this forcing it?

We are finishing a rehab next month and could use some of the proceeds for down payment a longer term loan. Possibly BRRR strategy?

Thanks in advance for the help! 

Hello All, happy new year! I hope 2017 is off to a good start for you! 

We visited with a seller today who called in response to a letter we sent. To make a long story short the seller is elderly, has been in the home for 40 years, and will be moving out of the state in a couple months. We would like to purchase the property but I think it has more potential then a SFH.

As it sits the home is a 5 bed 2 bath. 3/1 on the main level, 2/1 down stairs. Lower level has its own entry point. The home is in great shape just very dated and would need cosmetic updating. 

Our thoughts for exit strategies are as follows in order of interest...

1. House Hack. Live up top, rent out bottom, will need to add kitchen down stairs 

2. Rezone to duplex. Seal units off, split utilities, the works

3. Buy or Wholesale the property to renovate as SFH

4. List it retail (my wife is a realtor) 

We have never done something like this so not sure where to start. What would I need to be able to rezone to a duplex? Is that even what I would need to do? Do I still need to do that if I live in one of the units? I really want to get into rentals and think creatively to do so but is this forcing it?

We are finishing a rehab next month and could use some of the proceeds for down payment a longer term loan. Possibly BRRR strategy?

Thanks in advance for the help! House is in Woodbridge VA if it helps.