All Forum Posts by: Thomas Knight

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $136,000
Cash invested: $4,500

Duplex. Used a VA loan so I didn't have to put anything down other than closing costs.

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

I liked the idea of having someone else taking care of what would be my rent and buying my property for me.

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

I worked with an agent who gave me access to the MLS essentially. I searched through for a month and analyzed every property that looked remotely interesting. Settled on 4 or 5, went and saw them and took action on one.

How did you finance this deal?

Being a Marine veteran, I was able to use the VA loan.

How did you add value to the deal?

To the deal, not much.

What was the outcome?

They wanted $160,000 I agreed only if they would replace all windows with new energy efficient windows. (foolishly) we went under contract. Appraisal came in at $136,000 even with new windows done, so I offered that instead. They said no and I walked away. I knew they were flippers and needed to sell sooner rather than later to get there money out, so I was hoping they’d reconsider. 3 days later I got a call saying they agreed to everything and the rest is history.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Lots of learning on this one as it was my first. Learned to negotiate better. I almost payed way more than I needed to.

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

I did, but unfortunately they got out of the business. I need to find new ones as I plan to get more in the coming year.

I'm looking to get into investment properties, hopefully buying my first by the end of this year. I'm interesting in doing some house hacking, buying a multi unit and living on one of them and renting out the rest. I was wondering if anyone in or around the Sanford, Maine area would be interesting in sitting down and having a coffee with me while I ask questions or you talk about your business and how you got there. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you all for your input. @ James Wise, how do i go about finding potential property like that? I have been using Zillow, and Realtor, and Truilia, but i'm generally finding things that need substantial amounts of rehab, which i personally can not do, and i don't think i would be able to afford.

Good Evening,

So things have currently changed for myself and I am now looking into getting some property in New York area some where. I will most likely be going to school there ( currently in the world) but again I will need s place to stay. My bought about doing a multi family and then living in one side, but I know New York can be a tough place.  No idea even where to begin there. 

Thanks for any advice

Thomas knight

Myself and my friends have been trying to push through a good portion of the podcasts, and I myself have been trying to read many books that have been recommended for real estate. i've only gotten through a couple, but i'm working my way through. I have also been collecting some of the real estate books that have been mentioned a few times on this site as well.

Thank you all for your advice. I welcome as much as people are willing to give.

Thank you

Hello,

Myself and two of my other friends are looking at buying a multi unit property/building. not one of us has ever had any experience doing so, but we all have some capital to put forth. basically we want to learn the ins and outs and the business together on 1 property, and then maybe expand for ourselves once we've learned the ropes.

How should we go about getting started, and or what should we be looking for? All three of us are going to be living around Penn State area, and most properties there are relatively low in costs, but we're not sure how to gauge anything.

Basically we'd ideally like to buy one, live in one of the units, and rent the other(s) out until we're done with school, or decide to move on to something else altogether.

Any feedback would be great!

Thank you for your time.

Hello,

My name is Thomas, and i'm looking to buy some investment properties. Myself and a friend of mine have about 50k combined saved up and we're looking at possibly buying either a single family home, or a multi family property/building near Penn State the school we will be attending in 2016. Both of us are currently in the USMC and are saving our money to invest.

My thought was to basically buy a multifamily home/building and have myself and my friend live in one of the units while renting out the others. and if we can generate enough income, have a property management company deal with the building so we don't have to worry as much about tennants, or maintenance calls. A lot of the properties in that area i have noticed seem cheap in price but often require work to be livable. 

what are your thoughts about having contractors refurbishing the building/units, and any thing that we should look out for in general? What advice or tips would you give us first time investors?

Thank you for your time,

Thomas