All Forum Posts by: Reagan Clo

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $390,000
Cash invested: $70,000

This is a duplex that I am house hacking as a buy and hold investment. One side is rented long term while I live in the other. I used a conventional loan and put down 5%. The roof needed to be repaired, which added another $10,000 to the cost, but doing that allowed the insurance to be cheaper and ensures that the rood is good for another decade.

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

I am interested in multi family, long term, buy and hold strategies.

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

I used a real estate agent to find it on the MLS for me and she helped me to purchase it. I did not want to lose the deal to someone else so I asked for it at the asking price. I was able to get the rood payment cut in half, so I did not have to pay the whole price for it.

How did you finance this deal?

I used a conventional loan and had the cash available to put down 5% and for the closing costs. The cash came from my own personal savings and my father who invested in this deal with me.

How did you add value to the deal?

I replaced the rood for $10,500. It needed to be repaired desperately since it was so old.

What was the outcome?

I now have a great place to live close to work, and another property to add to my portfolio.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

The duplex was expensive and with rates as high as they are, I was not able to save money house hacking. I did not want to risk losing the deal so I bought it at the asking price, as opposed to negotiating down.

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

I worked with a fantastic real estate agent named Kelly Trageser, who I recommend if you are in the Brevard County area of Florida, and a loan officer, Spencer Howerton, of Satori Mortgage.

Hi, my name is Reagan. I am a rookie investor with a question about a property's title. I met a new investor, with contracting experience, at a local real estate meet up and he is interested in doing a flip using a hard money loan, renting the property out to his girlfriend, then using a FHA loan to buy it so he can live in it. This investor let me know that since I have a track record of buying 3 properties, that the hard money lender will give the investor a better rate and add less points if I help. I would then get a small amount of money as compensation since I helped save even more. To prove that I actually owe my properties, the investor and hard money lender wanted me to send them an image of my titles with my name on it. I wanted to know if there was any danger to this. The investor seems genuine and I could not find any major red flags about him online. I however, don't know him beyond one meetup and a few phone calls. I want to make sure that this is not some sort of scam where someone could steal my title or information. I appreciate any response. Thanks.

Hey, my name is Reagan. A year ago, I joined the bigger pockets multifamily bootcamp and learned from Matt Faircloth and the others speakers that successful real estate investors have thought platforms. This could range from blogs to podcasts. I took their advice and started a newsletter called Rockets and Real Estate on substack.com. Today is the 1 year anniversary since I started. That means that I have a years worth of content to read FOR FREE! If you have an interest in innovative technology or finances, check it out in the link below and subscribe!

https://rocketsandrealestate.substack.com/

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $115,000
Cash invested: $12,000

This was a house I purchased after renting in Florida for a year. It was my first property and my primary residence for 3 years. I rented it in December of 2023 so that I could move into a duplex and house hack it. I rent it for $1800/month. After expenses, it cashflows me around $350. I plan to keep it as a long term rental.

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

I had been renting for a year and my parents convinced me to buy a house to build up equity.

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

I used an agent who helped show me around several neighborhoods near my work. Since this was my first ever real estate deal, the agent walked me through everything.

How did you finance this deal?

My parents brought the down payment, while I paid the closing costs. The loan was a normal 20% down mortgage. Since this was purchased during the Covid-19 pandemic, the price was much lower than other houses in the neighborhood.

How did you add value to the deal?

There was some minor damage to the ceiling and the AC vents. I ended up paying someone to fix these problems. When I went to rent the house out, I kept the house fully furnished, which increased the interest.

What was the outcome?

The outcome is that I have fantastic tenants, and a cashflow producing property that has helped propel me in my investing journey. It was also a great starter home and helped me take my first steps into real estate investing.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Because I bought it so low, it really showed me how important the buying portion of a property is. Even when looking at a long term investment, having the property produce cashflow immediately is amazing. I also learned to keep reserves. The closing costs were most of what I had at the time. If I had spent my money on frivolous things, then there could have been a chance that I didn't get the property.

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

I worked with a real estate agent that was recommended to me from my aunt and uncle who also purchased a house in Florida. Her name is Kelly Walen.

I actually activated a HELOC on that property and have it set aside as a reserve if I need it. I don't plan to refinance since interest rates are so high. The property was purchased for around $255,000 and is now worth $300,000.

The rental is doing fine. I had to lower the price of one side slightly do to lack of interest so that was a bummer. Each side is 2 bedroom and 1 bathroom. My goal was to rent each side for $1450 but now one side is rented for $1250 and the other was renting at $1400. Concerning Truist Bank, they are great. I haven't had any issues with them. The terms were also fair for the HELOC. I opted for the fixed rate with principal payments. It caused the monthly payments to be more, as opposed to having interest only payments, but the stability it brings is worth it. Hope this helps.

If you could give me her name and number, that would be great. Thanks!

Hey, I am looking for any recommendations other investors have for attorneys or lawyers that have knowledge about drafting the paperwork needed for purchasing off market, creative financed properties. I am looking in Orlando or Brevard County.

Zillow estimates the duplex to be around $300,000. While I can do this, I would prefer to get another HELOC since I get to decide when to pull the money out. I was told by another investor that Space Coast Credit Union offers HELOCs on investment properties. I am going to look into getting that.