All Forum Posts by: Laura Bowler

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $155,000
Cash invested: $38,000

After several false starts on other properties, we located and purchased a duplex in Wayne MI (each unit 2 bd, 1 bath). The property already had a valid certificate of occupancy, so after a few minor repairs, we were able to show the house and got two tenants within a day at $950 per unit. One tenant is moved in and the other moves in Nov 1. We anticipate decent cashflow but with a few major repairs upfront, it may take a bit of time to see that.

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

We have been looking to expand in multifamily to help accelerate our investing, and reach our cash flow goal / financial freedom.

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

The original price was $180K, but we were able to negotiate down to $165K due to the roof age and some water issues in the basement (offered $170K due to roof, and went down additional $5K in inspection). Appraisal came in low at $155K, but due to the issues with the house, and the length of time on the market, the seller was willing to accept the lower number.

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional Loan - We settled at $155K and closed at the end of August with a 25% down payment and a 3.875% rate on our mortgage.

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $155,000
Cash invested: $38,000

After several false starts on other properties, we located and purchased a duplex in Wayne MI (each unit 2 bd, 1 bath). The original price was $180K, but we were able to negotiate down to $165K due to the roof age and some water issues in the basement (offered $170K due to roof, and went down additional $5K in inspection). Appraisal came in low at $155K, but due to the issues with the house, and the length of time on the market, the seller was willing to accept the lower number. We settled at $155K and closed at the end of August with a 25% down payment and a 3.875% rate on our mortgage. The property already had a valid certificate of occupancy, so after a few minor repairs, we were able to show the house and got two tenants within a day at $950 per unit. One tenant is moved in and the other moves in Nov 1. We anticipate decent cashflow but with a few major repairs upfront, it may take a bit of time to see that.

Hi Jonathan, 

Sorry for the delay - I somehow missed your post! It's in Inkster, MI. A lower income area just west of Detroit.

Hi! My husband and I have been managing our own rental properties for the last 2 and a half years, and we decided that we wanted to outsource the handling of maintenance calls and repairs. We like to travel quite a bit (and handling these calls from afar can be problematic) but it's also not the best use of our time to drive to the properties to fix a garbage disposal or leaky pipe. We are both handy (and hire out projects we aren't qualified to do) but are ready to spend a little more and have this piece completely handled.

We shopped around property management companies, but all of them seem to have more services than we want - we really enjoy the part of the business centered around locating tenants and fixing up properties (initially and after a vacancy), since part of the reason we do this is to engage with the community and provide more affordable stable housing options to those who don't always get the best treatment from landlords. However, we are struggling with outsourcing this smaller piece of the work. Does anyone have any experience or advice for doing this? We asked a few property management companies to consider a smaller scope of work, but are thinking we might need to deal with a handyman company or something.

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $147,500
Cash invested: $36,875

Bought my first multifamily property! Home is historic (1900) and is a single family home converted to a duplex. The upstairs unit was already rented by a long term tenant, and she agreed to stay on with a rent increase to $650. In the process of fixing up the bottom unit and hope to ask $950-1000 for the bottom unit when it's done. With a mortgage around $800, this should provide some needed cash flow, and build equity in a property we may need in 5-10 years.

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

Bit of a multi-functional purpose - we wanted to break into multifamily, but were also looking for a long term hold property in Flushing as a future secondary home (location where my stepdaughter resides).

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

MLS. Property had been on the market over 2 months, and we offered $145K (list price at the time was $160K and had started at $180K). Settled at $150K, and then negotiated down another $2500 after foundation issues were discovered.

How did you finance this deal?

Mortgage + 25% down payment

How did you add value to the deal?

Replaced flooring in bottom unit to upgrade unit. Increased rent in upstairs unit, but added access to onsite laundry room.

What was the outcome?

Ongoing. At the moment it's losing money until we get a tenant into the bottom unit, but should cash flow $200 per month minimum.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Foundation estimates are hard and can be quite expensive!

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

Academy mortgage (Shawn) had the most seamless mortgage process ever! And our agent at Keller Williams, Matt Barnett, was amazing about trekking an hour north multiple times for us!

Hi Sean! I tend to prefer leases of at least one year, because it provides some protection against vacancy.  Generally tenants who commit to a one year lease will stay for a year or longer (or tend to be longer term tenants) and may face penalties if they break the lease, which help offset the vacancy penalties. I've had tenants ask for even longer term (2-3 years) which I think they want to have some guarantee of rent stability over time. However, I think it somewhat depends on the tenant and the market - I've seen month-to-month tenants stay for 15+ years, and they just like the flexibility of this type of lease. With month-to-month, I imagine it's also easier to get rid of troublesome tenants, but I haven't done any of these. I'm currently acquiring a property with a month to month tenant in place, and I'm hoping to convert her to a 1 year lease for more stability. 

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $33,000
Cash invested: $6,700

Bought a foreclosed house (4 bedroom, 2 bathroom) in the summer of 2020 in need of serious cosmetic rehab. We did most of the rehab ourselves, which completed in November. We then arranged for the city to inspect the house so we could get a certificate of occupancy, but two days before our inspection, the city shut down due to COVID and advised us not to wait on them. We were able to successfully rent it for $1050 a month at the beginning of January 2021.

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

It was a slightly larger home than the others we had bought, and it was our first experience with a foreclosure / auction.

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

It was a bank foreclosure sale so our realtor bid on our behalf. I ran the numbers and gave him a maximum bid, and we were successful in winning the auction.

How did you finance this deal?

Cash

How did you add value to the deal?

Did most of the rehab ourselves. Bought the house for $33K and it's probably worth $50K after renovation (with only $7K in rehab budget).

What was the outcome?

Property was successful rented to a tenant for a one year lease at $1050 per month

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Need to figure out how to speed up rehab with long lead time items like windows.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $33,000
Cash invested: $6,700

Bought a foreclosed house (4 bedroom, 2 bathroom) in the summer of 2020 in need of serious cosmetic rehab. We did most of the rehab ourselves, but the rehab got delayed by the company installing the windows until November. We then arranged for the city to inspect the house so we could get a certificate of occupancy, but two days before our inspection, the city shut down due to COVID and advised us not to wait on them. We were able to successfully rent it for $1050 a month at the beginning of January 2021.

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

It was a slightly larger home than the others we had bought, and it was our first experience with a foreclosure / auction.

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

It was a bank foreclosure sale so our realtor bid on our behalf. I ran the numbers and gave him a maximum bid, and we were successful in winning the auction.

How did you finance this deal?

Cash

How did you add value to the deal?

Did most of the rehab ourselves. Bought the house for $33K and it's probably worth $50K after renovation (with only $7K in rehab budget).

What was the outcome?

Property was successful rented to a tenant for a one year lease at $1050 per month

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Need to figure out how to speed up rehab with long lead time items like windows.

Hi all! I'm looking to understand my options for esigning documents (rather than my current method of printing and mailing leases to tenants), especially with the pandemic and need for minimal contact. I saw a few posts on this, but nothing recent, and was curious if anyone had any recommendations for a good esign service? I currently only have 2 units (still building!) so I don't need a tremendous amount of signatures, and would prefer a free service if available, although I'm not opposed to paying. I stumbled on PandaDoc, which offered free esigning, but wanted to know if anyone had used them, or other services they could recommend? I really appreciate the help.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Inkster.

Purchase price: $38,000
Cash invested: $38,000

Purchased a single family home in Inkster that was partially renovated. In the process of finishing the renovation so that we can get a tenant in it (hopefully within 1-2 months).

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

Previous investment in this area is yielding good cash flow.

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

Found the deal through MLS. Initial price was 50K. Seller lowered to 45K after being on the market a month. We offered 41K based on repairs needed, and then seller negotiated down to 38K in exchange for an as-is, 10 day closing.

How did you finance this deal?

Cash

What was the outcome?

Renovation is in process. A few big ticket items needed (furnace, plumbing completion, and electrical panel replacement) and planning to rent for about $900 a month.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Don't let the seller pick the title company (we had to travel and it cost $300 more than our last property).