All Forum Posts by: Randall Brooks

My vote is for HELOC as well. I just did something similar wrapping up a large duplex rebuild. During the rebuild we decided to add a second story and material prices increased quite a bit since covid which lead us to running out of our initial budget last year. In a race to get it finished and occupied we added 29K to credit cards as we crossed the finish line. I have a low interest rate from 2019 as well that I didn't want to lose so I got some leases signed and went to the bank for appraisal and HELOC. CC payments went from $700/month to a $200/month HELOC payment. HELOC rates are variable so do your research but you wont lose your initial interest rate... I'd fight to keep that rate as we may never see rates that low again for a long time.

@Colleen F. That's my thought exactly. One of my closer mentors has been adamant about selling the house, as the rents are far below the 1% rule. He thinks I should sell outright and look for another deal or at the minimum remove duplex status (which I could never get back) by removing half the firewall and one kitchen for the addition of another bedroom.. thus adding another room to rent. The removal of duplex status does make sense from a LTR perspective, however I'm pretty set on maintaining duplex status and make a run at STR'ing this property.

The biggest flaw I find in his position is the the lack of available deals. This isn't the same market as it was in 2019... He knows this. With property values and interest rates as elevated as they are I haven't found a deal that would cash flow. He is a very successful investor in this area but I believe his position, being far above mine, has biased his opinion in terms of "being in my shoes."

I don't want to lose this asset, rather keep it and leverage it to add more. I'll be looking to purchase another property that's in need of major rehab. Essentially repeating the process I just finished although maybe not to this extent.

Hi all,

I made an introduction post 3 years ago about a duplex I purchased and planned on renovating. Well.... I finally finished haha. What a wild 3 years. I purchased this duplex in 2019 and began working in May of 2020 when the occupying tenants leases expired. Covid threw a wrench in my plans as material prices skyrocketed. I was able to finish one side in 2021 that my wife and I currently occupy. With material prices still elevated I delayed the rest of the project for a year and a half while focusing almost solely on scaling my construction company. I resumed working in mid 2022 with my spare time and a goal of being finished before the end of 2023.

The original duplex was a 1 bed 1 bath on each side and originally built in 1907. I completely gutted the house leaving only 2 original external walls as required by the city as the duplex status was grandfathered in and leaving a portion of the original structure was required. Everything else is brand new and brought up to current IBC standards. New plumbing, wiring/electrical, service panel, main water line, floor joists, sidewalks... I even raised the roof and added bonus room trusses. The duplex now stands as a 2 bed 2 bath on each side. I added a flat top roof deck and built three ground level decks for the entry doors. I did most everything by myself with a decent bit of help from my dad. It's quite literally a brand new house and I'm proud of what I've accomplished although it took a lot longer than what I initially anticipated.

Now for the numbers

Purchase price: $145,000
Cash invested: $22,000.12 (15% down at 3.99%)
Mortgage/insurance/taxes payment: $902/month

Renovations: $76,000

Total invested: $98,000

Housing prices in my area have soared since 2019. I have yet to receive an official appraisal but had a real estate agent tell me to expect an appraisal value in the low to mid $400,000 range based on similar properties sold. The duplex sits in a prime location that is walking distance to downtown, a local park, a bus stop, and the local university. Expected monthly rents are $2500-2700/month combined.

My next step will be either an HEL or HELOC to purchase another property my wife and I will move into in order to rent both sides of this duplex. With interest rates and property values so high it's hard to find anything that would cash flow outright so the next purchase will be something that has a lot of value add potential and might be an outright flip although my goals are to buy and hold (BRRRR). My wife has 11 years experience in hospitality working for a resort and thus we will be STR'ing this property as the market here is hot and we anticipate a much higher return than LTR. I will continue to do general contracting and she will develop the STR business.


I've networked with a few other investors in town... half tell me I'd be stupid not to sell the property and half say I'd be stupid if I did. As of now I'm firm on holding this property, the location is hard to beat, and I'm looking at a HELOC over an HEL as that gives me the ability to utilize the equity in the home while also allowing me to be patient with the next purchase. The only rush I feel is my desire to scale and to rent out the side I'm currently occupying. However I'm always open to advice and opinions.

Here's a couple before and after pictures

Why was the electric shut off to begin with and what is their reasoning for requesting an inspection to get power reinstated? Is it due to extended vacancy or are there any known issues with the house or any current code violations?

My advice would be to call the city and request to speak with the electrical inspector and discuss your situation with them.

Generally condemned buildings can be worked on but not (typically) lived in. Any code violations that would condemn the house must be fixed before the house can be inhabited. If you're doing a full reno this shouldn't be an issue unless the structure itself is deemed unsafe to work on/around.

Additionally there are a few ways you can work around power issues- you can call the power company and have them come out and set up a temporary line. We do this frequently when updating older homes with older service panels. You can also run power tools off a generator if needed.

It seems to me your worried about getting power to the house to perform the renovations that are needed....if that's the case I'd suggest calling the power company and having them do a visit and see if they can set you up a temp line to work off of.... which you'll need to do anyway being that the house was built in the 1800's and more than likely has knob and tube wiring and restricted to a 60amp service panel. You'll need to upgrade to a minimum 100amp service and I suggest going up to 200amp as there is often less headache with inspectors and it will cover any additional electrical needs in the future that may arise.

One last thought... if this is your primary residence you can sometimes get away doing to work yourself, although please know what you are doing before attempting any electrical work or wiring as mistakes can be deadly. If it is an investment property or something you plan to rent you will need to have a licensed electrical contractor perform the work for you.

Call the inspectors, apply for permits, start demo and as always speak with a professional before performing any work.

@Matthew Olson and @David Clinton III thanks for the warm welcome. Nice to see some locals on here and I'm always down to network, connect, and learn from each other. I'm just down the road from you both in Moscow but travel to CDA and Spokane frequently. At some point I'll be throwing together a progress thread for our current project and will have some solid numbers to share with everyone when the job is done. 

First time posting to BP forums but have been researching and learning from BP for some time now.

I'm 31 and currently live in north Idaho and the RE market is booming here. After years of preparation I finally left my w2 and got my contractors license and started my own LLC with my father. I have a background in construction and landscaping and my father built custom log homes for many years. Over the past few years we have been drawn out of our traditional jobs as the potential in RE here is undeniable- we finally decided to take the leap 3 months ago and go full time. We have successfully flipped a few homes over the years but will begin to scale up with an emphasis on buying and renting rather than flipping. Our advantage is being able to do nearly all the work ourselves, with the exception of electrical work which must be subbed. This has, and will, save us a lot of money in rehab- as such we are interested in buying "the worst house in the best neighborhood."

Our current project is a full gut renovation on a duplex (1 bed 1 bath each side). The duplex was in bad shape, which we love, and thus were able to purchase it for far lower than average house value. We just got clearance from the city to raise the roof and will be adding a second floor with two extra beds and two baths, one on each side. By full gut I mean full gut- we have it stripped down to 4 exterior walls and will be putting new bonus room trusses on in less than 2 weeks. I'm planning on starting a thread about this duplex as its my first real dive into RE. I plan to BRRRR this property and pull out what I initially invested and roll that into another deal.

Looking forward to what the future holds and excited to be a part of the BP community.