All Forum Posts by: Mike Paolucci

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $370,000

Duplex that was purchased on the backend of a 1031 exchange. Long term hold with plans to force value by adding egress window/exits in basement to increase property from 2 bed / 1.5 bath to a 3 bed / 1.5 bath on each side and increase overall value.

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

Had an opportunity to buy a newer duplex and gain experience with 1031 exchange.

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

My RE Agent found this off-market.

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional

How did you add value to the deal?

I plan on adding egress windows/exits in the basement which will increase property from 2/1.5 to 3/1.5 units per side.

What was the outcome?

Currently under renovation

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Run conservative numbers when figuring out how much you'll be able to get from selling your property when deciding to venture into this to make sure everything makes sense.

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

Yes. Happy to connect with anyone on this.

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $160,000
Cash invested: $50,000

2/1 Duplex buy and hold investment. Currently fully rented out 100% by S8 tenants.

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

Expanding my portfolio.

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

My local agent found this off-market

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $190,000
Cash invested: $51,906

3/1 duplex with long term tenants

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

Agent found this off-market.

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Property had some light water intrusion in the basement. Trusted my Property Manager to take care of things and install block windows and seal up any cracks that were causing water intrusion.

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $145,000
Sale price: $195,000

Initially purchased this 2/1 duplex as a buy and hold investment. Had an opportunity to purchase a better property and used this duplex as a 1031 exchange property

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

I wanted to expand my portfolio, so I purchased this duplex.

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

My real estate agent found this deal.

How did you finance this deal?

conventional loan

What was the outcome?

I ended up selling this property as a 1031 and using the proceeds to purchase another duplex in a better neighborhood and bought into more equity.

Quote from @Matthew Kalifeh:

Hello BP,

I am currently an undergrad student with 2.5 semesters left (Finance Major RE Minor) I have read many books and have listened to many podcasts on RE investing so my mind has been set to do this for a while now.

I plan on investing long-distance eventually but am looking to move to an area that has a strong RE market that I can invest in sooner rather than later, and lots to offer for young people. I have done plenty of research and taken multiple "Which city should I move to based off personality" quizzes and get different answers every time. 

I am going to house hack as soon as I can, and want to start in wholesale and eventually move into rental properties.  

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Also, no California or New York or anywhere where the cost of living is on the outrageous side.

Thank you so much.

 Hey @Matthew Kalifeh, I recommend Columbus or Cleveland for investing. Columbus has a lot of growth coming, especially in the tech sector (Intel, Google, Amazon, etc) are all laying down roots and will give you good appreciation on your investment properties. 

Hey Robert, you're off to a great start and are focused on the right things. The biggest suggestion I could recommend is to get good and running numbers. That has been key for me finding deals that made sense for me. I've been investing in Columbus and am happy to connect. 

Quote from @Esha Chennubhotla:

Hi there,

I am a complete newbie to real estate investing but really want to rip the band aid off this year and get my first property. I currently live in Los Angeles, CA so purchasing a property with good cash flow does not seem possible for me here. I am looking for something that can give me good cash flow as well as decent appreciation. I have been looking at OOS investing in areas such as Indianapolis, Columbus, and Cleveland. I also work remote so have the opportunity to live anywhere so have been thinking of moving to another urban city like Chicago that is more affordable and house hack for my first property, though I am not sure if the cash flow would be very high since I would want to live in the more metropolitan area of Chicago if I choose to do something like that. I have also thought of investing in Arizona since it is not too far from Los Angeles and I would be able to drive there to manage any issues that arise.

I am curious how LA investors chose a strategy for their first investment property. How did you determine the best OOS area to invest in or choose the best strategy. I have around $50k saved up so ideally I am looking to put down only 3-5% which is why I was looking at house hacking or looking at other areas where the housing market is not as expensive as California. 

Any guidance and advice is greatly appreciated, thank you!

Hi Esha. I'm a big fan of Columbus and Cleveland. I started off buying a single-family home in 2021 as an out of state investor out of San Francisco. That property as well as the subsequent properties I invested in have appreciated well and provided decent cashflow. The cashflow isn't going to be life changing or anything but it's helped. I've since purchased a few duplexes in Columbus and have been very happy with all of them.  

Cleveland has higher cashflow opportunities at a low entry price point if that's what you're looking for. Not sure there will be much in terms of the appreciation compared to Columbus but you'll do fine in both markets.

The biggest key is running your numbers and working with a good property manager if you go the out of state route. They will be key to making sure your investment runs smoothly. They'll have the contractor relationships that you'll need and make your investing life a lot easier and allow you to focus on more important things.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $109,900

3 bed / 1 bath single family with full basement and detached 2 car garage.