All Forum Posts by: Nathan Dehn

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $122,000
Cash invested: $3,500

Purchased a small duplex with an FHA loan where I live in one unit and renting the other out. This was our first investment property we bought and has turned out really well! Biggest thing I learned is that a good tenant makes investing fun!

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

Looking to buy my first house and wanted someone else to pay most of the mortgage.

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

Found on the MLS over 60 days on market. Negotiated to purchase at list price but seller to give credit at closing. Allowing me to only pay $3500 for the home.

How did you finance this deal?

FHA financing

How did you add value to the deal?

minor cosmetic updates: landscaping, painting, cabinet hardware, update light fixtures.

What was the outcome?

Have had a few tenant turn overs since they're just 1 bed units. But, has made decent money. And, gained so many lessons that we applied to our second investment property!

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Always expect at least $2k in repairs once you buy the home for things you don't know will go wrong.
It's better to wait a few weeks to find the right tenant instead of accepting the first one that seems decent.
don't underestimate the neighborhood! And, go back to the property at different parts of the day to see if anything changes.

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

My mother in law, Krista Hartmann, who I'm now a part of her real estate team!

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $240,000
Cash invested: $5,000

This one was crazy because we got under contract without any pictures and knew the upstairs tenant needed to be evicted. The pictures show how disgusting it was! But, allowed us to get a great deal and get more space for our growing family.
Mortgage payment of $1600/mo. Lower floor rent is $1000 with market rent of $1200, and upper floor will rent for $1,050/mo when we leave.

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

No photos, on market a long time, gave us negotiation power. In a fantastic neighborhood with a partially finished basement.

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

Found on MLS. Asked for seller credits to keep minimum cash out of our pockets.

How did you finance this deal?

FHA

How did you add value to the deal?

Had seller remove non paying tenant. Cosmetic updates of paint, new appliances,/vanity. Clean the crap out of the place.

What was the outcome?

Good long term investment. Lower level tenant signed a 5 year lease who's already been in the property for 8 years.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Buying a home while your wife is 8 months pregnant is a challenge and time consuming!

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

Yes, I represented my self since I'm an agent. And I'd also recommend me to others. :)

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $240,000
Cash invested: $5,000

My wife and I bought our 3rd duplex via house hacking. Able to put the minimum 3.5% down, received credits from the seller, and extended 1 tenant's lease for 5 years!
This one was crazy because we got under contract without any pictures and knew the upstairs tenant needed to be evicted. The pictures show how disgusting it was! But, allowed us to get a great deal and get more space for our growing family.
Mortgage payment of $1600/mo. Lower floor rent is $1000 with market rent of $1200, and upper floor will rent for $1,050/mo when we leave.

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

No photos, on market a long time, gave us negotiation power. In a fantastic neighborhood with a partially finished basement.

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

Found on MLS. Asked for seller credits to keep minimum cash out of our pockets.

How did you finance this deal?

FHA

How did you add value to the deal?

Had seller remove non paying tenant. Cosmetic updates of paint, new appliances,/vanity. Clean the crap out of the place.

What was the outcome?

Good long term investment. Lower level tenant signed a 5 year lease who's already been in the property for 8 years.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Buying a home while your wife is 8 months pregnant is a challenge and time consuming!

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

Yes, I represented my self since I'm an agent. And I'd also recommend me to others. :)

@Kenneth Garrett Could you send me the info you send to investors as well?

I have a few friends and family wanting to invest in my future projects but don't know too much about real estate investing. I want to provide them a pamphlet that explains the benefits of real estate investing and give them basic knowledge of what to expect. 

Congrats @Adam Dinneny! The first one is the hardest one and the lessons learned from it with worth much more than any money you'll gain or lose from this property. LMK if you want to connect or need any help!

@Michael King Here is just one website that explains support animals and how Landlords must comply with fair housing laws. https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/fair-housing-act-and-assistance-animals

@Soh Tanaka yes, you can enter your mortgage amount and interest on the loan and can calculate how much the principle goes down each month.

Hey Travis, I use Stessa to keep track of my finances. You can sync any credit cards or bank accounts and it will automatically categorize reoccurring transitions (like mortgage payments or utilities). You can screenshot/upload receipts, meaning you can get rid of the old shoebox of receipts. VERY helpful when I need to return things at Lowes!! Also, you can categorize entries by property and unit so you can truly see how your properties are performing. Best of all, IT'S FREE! 

Hey Travis, Congrats on your first property! The first few months are the hardest as you don't know what you don't know.

 In my leases I say pets are not allowed unless given written approval by the landlord (me). Since SO many people have pets nowadays, we have a $200 pet deposit and a $15 mo fee for each pet. 

Remember to get descriptions of what the tenant's pet's names, breeds, and sizes are so they can't say they told you about pets you haven't seen before. 

Also, make sure to check with your insurance on what breeds are not covered by your insurance policy.

Finally, if the tenant has a support pet, you legally can't charge a deposit or fee. But, you can require them to give you proper documentation.

From talking to my insurance guy, it's impossible to find earthquake insurance in the city of STL for brick buildings. This is because we are close to a fault line and rebuilding brick buildings is just too expensive for them. 

That's just what I have heard when my wife and I purchased our 3 story duplex half a year ago.