All Forum Posts by: Tim Mieney

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $230,000
Cash invested: $50,000

My fifth investment property, a triplex (always wanted one). During the craziness of Covid, we were trying to do everything we could to get our money into hard assets. This property is very unique because the upstairs unit is a huge, multi-level 3 bedroom that feels like its own house. There's a front 2BR unit with its own entrance and a lower 2BR unit that shares a common area with the upstairs unit. We paid a premium compared to other investments, but the location is appreciating very well.

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

The location is excellent and appreciating quite rapidly and we have always wanted a triplex.

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

An agent and friend brought it our way prior to hitting the market.

How did you finance this deal?

Private lender and personal capital.

How did you add value to the deal?

We updated and rented the two vacant units, the downstairs was much more of a hassle than we anticipated. We also inherited one tenant (the previous owners daughter) who was in the main 3BR unit paying way below market rent. After 6 months she found a house and we were able to rent her unit with minimal updates at market rate.

What was the outcome?

Still operating with happy tenants!

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Always look in a drop ceiling... After closing and during rehab we found a major lvl in the basement unit being supported by a ratchet strap... We had a support post installed and all is well now, but it was a major overlook and lesson learned on our part. We also uncovered several smaller issues we didn't anticipate, but uncovering these issues and addressing them has allowed us to further strengthen our asset.

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

Real Estate Agent

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $230,000
Cash invested: $50,000

My fifth investment property, a triplex (always wanted one). During the craziness of Covid, we were trying to do everything we could to get our money into hard assets. This property is very unique because the upstairs unit is a huge, multi-level 3 bedroom that feels like its own house. There's a front 2BR unit with its own entrance and a lower 2BR unit that shares a common area with the upstairs unit. We inherited one tenant (the previous owners daughter) who was in the main 3BR unit paying way below market rent. The other two units were vacant and needed to be updated. We updated and rented the two vacant units and gave the previous owners daughter 6 months to find somewhere else to live (she was looking for a house out of state). Once her unit went vacant we made a couple small updates, had the apartment cleaned and it's now rented at full market value. All tenants are on Auto-Pay and even though we paid a premium compared to previous deals, this property is in an appreciating area and is by far my favorite property we currently own.

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

The location is excellent and we have always wanted a triplex.

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

An agent and friend brought it our way prior to hitting the market.

How did you finance this deal?

Private lender and personal capital.

How did you add value to the deal?

We updated the units and brought rents to market rates.

What was the outcome?

Still operating with happy tenants!

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Always look in a drop ceiling... After closing and during rehab we found a major lvl being supported by a ratchet strap... We had a support post installed and all is well now, but it was a major overlook and lesson learned on our part. We also uncovered several smaller issues we didn't anticipate, but uncovering these issues and addressing them has allowed us to further strengthen our asset.

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

Real Estate Agent

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $125,000
Cash invested: $25,000

My fourth investment property, another quad. Purchased from a friend of a friend who was in a tough spot and needed quick cash. We inherited two vacant units, one that was down to the studs and one that needed cosmetic updates. The other two units were occupied with tenants paying way below market rent. We updated and rented both vacant units and as the other two units turned over we updated and re-rented those as well. All units are now updated, occupied and are at fair market rent.

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

The seller was a friend of a friend that needed quick cash so we were able to get the property way below market. The location is great too.

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

A friend of a friend. Negotiated by text over the course of a month.

How did you finance this deal?

Private lender and personal funds.

How did you add value to the deal?

We updated all units and rented at market rates.

What was the outcome?

Still operating with happy,paying tenants.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Hire more professional service pros. We had a ton of problems with cheap contractors and have since formed new relationships with more quality craftsmen.

Investment Info:

Large multi-family (5+ units) buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $157,500
Cash invested: $25,000

My third investment property, a 5-plex. All units are 1 Bed, 1 Bath and have been perfect for college students attending nearby SUNY Brockport as well as younger couples looking for an affordable place to live. This has been one of my favorite properties to own, despite there being a bit higher turnover rate due to the 1 Bedroom units. Maintenance has been very manageable with minimal large expenses incurred so far.

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

It was one unit larger than my quad so I loved the idea of scaling and it was also very conveniently located about 6 minutes from my house.

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

A friend of a friend was looking to sell and I got wind of it. I met the sellers at their house, we negotiated a price and I had my lawyer write up an offer.

How did you finance this deal?

A combination of a HELOC and my own funds.

How did you add value to the deal?

Better management systems than previous tenants were used to. We've updated a couple of the units when vacancy allowed for it. Rents were below market at purchase and we have steadily increased them to get to market rates.

What was the outcome?

Still holding. We're having some water issues in an upper unit so we'll be redoing the roof and some windows this spring.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Get an insurance quote before purchasing. I didn't realize this would be categorized under commercial and our insurance is about 4x what I had originally planned on. We're also getting public water soon and that added quite an expense to our tax bill because we're being charged for 5 dwellings, so rents will unfortunately be going up. But tenants will have nice fresh public water now.

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $150,000
Cash invested: $7,500
Sale price: $190,000

My second investment property. An excellent quad cash-cow, but the building was tired and constantly needed maintenance. The building was fully occupied at purchase, which from a cash flow perspective was great, but each tenant had quirks that made my job a bit more challenging than I had originally hoped. However, they all paid (often times pretty late) so as an early investor it was hard to give up income and force a turnover. During the four years I owned the building I only had to deal with one vacancy, which was pretty incredible. The building seemed to be in a declining area and the quality of tenants in surrounding properties were trending in a less than favorable direction. I decided to sell at the same time I listed the duplex for sale. I did much better on this exit and moved profits into the next deal.

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

The building was all stone and was being offered by a family friend who I had previously bought a property from. It was also double the size of my first deal and I loved the idea of scaling up.

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

Family friend. We discussed a fair price for an off market transaction with no realtors involved.

How did you finance this deal?

Private financing from a family friend. He gave me an incredible opportunity and financed 95% of the purchase. I will forever be grateful for his vote of confidence in me.

How did you add value to the deal?

Honestly, I added very little tangible value to the deal outside of being a more attentive and present landlord.

What was the outcome?

I profited $40K on the exit after 4 years of ownership.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

The importance of systems, obtaining quality tenants and quality service pros to help with maintenance.

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $150,000
Cash invested: $7,500
Sale price: $190,000

My second investment. Excellent cash-cow, but the building was tired and constantly needed maintenance. I inherited four tenants and only ever had to replace one of them. I decided to sell at the same time we sold the duplex. We did much better on this exit and moved profits into our next deal.

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $60,000
Cash invested: $5,000
Sale price: $67,900

My first investment. Learned a ton about management, properly vetting tenants, not skimping on repairs etc. The exit was not my best and I would have done things much differently now. But, it was a great start to an incredible journey.