Hey BP,
My name is Mike Hodukavich. I am a 24 year old from NJ, whose moving to Denver CO in April 2015. I have been lurking on your forums for a couple months and finally decided to create an account. I have always wanted to move to Denver, since I am a snowboard addict! Since about December 2013 I managed to find a great realtor, who himself has over 20 income properties in Denver. He gave me access to 'The Portal' ( a MLS program for customers) I have seen every single 2-4 unit property in about 5 or 6 upcoming neighborhoods since December 2013 and I am officially hooked on real estate!
Over the past year I have acquired my first income property and am under contract for my second and will be closing on the 30th!
The first property I closed on, back in Feb. 2014, is in Englewood, Co. My goals were to find a duplex-like property where I would be comfortable living myself (condition, location ect.) and be able to rent the other half and have my mortgage paid.
Well I managed to find a somewhat rare opportunity! A fully remodeled 4 bedroom single family house, a fully renovated carriage house out back and a detached 2 car garage. Instead of having a person/family living on the other side of the wall, I have my own 600 sq. ft. carriage house. I paid $301k, put down 25% which brought my mortgage to $1310/mo. The 4 bedroom house rents for $1575 and the carriage house rents for $900 (will be renting until I move into it) Currently I have a property management company taking 9% from me, which I will be taking over once the contract is up next year. They are telling me prices across the board are going up and to increase rent as the leases end.
As all the new properties come on the market, I check them at least 2 times a day and am purely fascinated by real estate and the numbers involved. I was very fortunate to be able to be in the market again these past 2 months. This time I found a quad-plex in Lakewood, CO that definitely needs some 'over time' remodeling. It backs up to power lines and a new light rail station 3 or 4 stops away from Downtown. It is currently fully rented for under market prices and includes 1 section 8 tenant, whose the cleanest tenant! It needs updated kitchens, 3 new furnaces (will replace all 3 once one breaks, they are over 25 years old each), has single pane windows, needs some new laminate flooring ect. ect. It will be a project and will be remodeling 1 unit at a time, when the time comes.
Purchase price was $389k. We put 25% down again which will bring the mortgage to around $1800ish. It currently intakes $3100/mo @ under market rental rates. My property manager took a look at the property and believes we can get more in the condition its in and also get around $4,000+/mo after renovations.
The goals of this property were to get monthly income and to hold for 10 - 30+ years. The new light rail is going to bring up the quality of the neighborhood, especially since its about 5 blocks south of Sloans Lake, if your familiar with the location.
This picture is of my second property. Its the property on the left. (I can't find any pictures of my first property as of now)
So , my journey continues once I get to Denver. I want to get a job in real estate. I haven't decided in which field. My strong point is, as I've been told, is my gift of gab and I love speaking with all types of people and love picking peoples brains. I would love to help other investors, since that's what interests me the most, but like most of BP, I do chase the money.
As of now, unless I find something more lucrative, my goal is to continue building my income property portfolio. Once financially secured, I do want to fool around with flips, but my general contracting connections are back in NJ and FL. I don't have many expenses since I'm a single 24 year old with no kids. I plan on investing lots, if not most of my money right back into real estate. I do need a job with high income on the books for that goal to become a reality.
As you can tell, I love to blab, haha. Feel free to ask any questions you may have, and thanks for all of your time. Mike
