All Forum Posts by: Tammy Nehmzow

No, they tore the building down and have plans on developing the land for commercial retail development.

We purchased our first property in 1999 as a young couple with 1 child on the way.  My husband renovated most of the property by himself with the help of a Home Depot book.  There was not YouTube, DIY bloggers or social media available to show him what to do or give him fabulous ideas.  He had to learn everything on his own through trial and error and there were plenty of errors.  We wish that we would have had a mentor to help speed up the learning process but after 21 years we are still renovating and absolutely still learning!

Investment Info:

Office Space commercial investment investment in East Bethel.

Purchase price: $50,000
Cash invested: $15,000
Sale price: $150,000

This space was used as an office that we bought on a contract for deed with a 0% interest rate. It was a 2 year long negotiation to purchase this property from a seller who was trying to retire (slowly). We had renovated it very simply at the time. The City came to us and offered us the same priced we had purchased it for. After another year of negotiating with the city, we sold it for 3 times what we bought it for.

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

We needed a small office space to run our business out of at the time and were sick of renting a tiny office.

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

We drove by the small building quite often. My husband would call the owner and harass him often (half joking about this part).

How did you finance this deal?

We put down $5,000 cash and the seller gave us a 8 year contract for deed with 0% interest and payments of $300 a month.

How did you add value to the deal?

We took this property off the hands of the seller and for that he was ecstatic.

What was the outcome?

We made an over profit of about $90,000 about $10,000 renovations.

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

We represented ourselves and wrote up our own contract for deed.

Wow, this is a hard lesson and I really hope they can find some footage from a neighboring security system or something to help catch the people responsible.  Over the years we have had to search near and far for an insurance agent to cover some of our tough to place properties.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Minneapolis.

Purchase price: $29,000
Cash invested: $45,000
Sale price: $170,000

Rented for 10 years with rents varying over the years from $1,200 - $1,800 a month. Our family had to gut the basement entirely and rebuild it back with 3 bedrooms and 1 full bath. The home featured 5 bedrooms and 2 baths total with a large backyard.

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

The opportunity to buy a newer home that had water damage was a challenge we were willing to accept.

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

The deal was available on the MLS but the amount of work that was needed was intense. It was listed for $30,000 and we offered $29,000 cash with a quick closing.

How did you finance this deal?

We paid cash.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

This home was an intense challenge for us as we were still honing in our renovation skills. At one point we had to replace the tub surround and bathtub in the upper level bathroom. The surround did not fit through the bathroom door so my husband took out a wall in order to slide the surround in and then patched back up the wall. The biggest challenge was that the access hole in the wall was over the stairway.

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

We represented ourselves.