A dual purpose first purchase, aka house hacking.

A dual purpose first purchase, aka house hacking.

Machine designer · Columbiaville, MI · Member since 2015 · 65 posts · 10 votes

I have been renting for many years and from what I have been learning on BP it sounds like buying a multi family property and living in it is a great way to get started in real estate investing and find a new place to live.

So I have been looking for multifamily properties in the town that I want to live in, Lapeer Michigan. I chose lapeer because it is centrally located between my 3 young adult children.

The town seems to be growing in some ways because they are constantly adding new restaurants and retail stores. However the population age must have shifted because they recently combined our two High Schools into one. 

There is another town close to me, Davison Michigan that has a similar story and would also be a possible location.

I have found a few multi-family properties for sale but so far nothing that really seems like a deal. I have ran a couple of them through the calculators and would have to offer a lot less than asking price to get them to cash flow. Which I guess is and reasonable thing to do.

One of the problems with all of these houses is that they are all quite old, like early 1900's. The other thing is that the one that looked the most promising is fully rented out in has had the same good tennants living there for 5 plus years.

There are only 8 multifamily properties in these two towns that I can find online. So I'm going to start driving and exploring other ways to find them but would appreciate some advice.

How old is too old if a building is well kept up?

Where or other sources to find the kind of property I am looking for?

What is a reasonable cash flow per door for a house hack?

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  • Real Estate Agent · Bloomfield Hills, MI · Member since 2014 · 117 posts · 30 votes
    11y

    Welcome to BP, Dan.

    I grew up in Lapeer and an old mentor from my boy scout days is a great broker with an office downtown. Let me know if you would like her help. Her office will undoubtedly work hard for you.

    I had shopped some MF's in Lapeer over the years. Recently missed out on a fantastic 3 unit for 50k just a few blocks from downtown. NOI was about 600/month. The building was built in 1905, but it appeared to be well maintained and had long term tenants. It was the best deal in the city in years..... but there will always be another.

    I would say if you are occupying, in that specific market, a duplex should be paying 80-100% of your bills. Tri-plex you should have 100-300 cash flow.

    Good luck! Keep us posted on your journey.

  • Machine designer · Columbiaville, MI · Member since 2015 · 65 posts · 10 votes
    11y

    Thanks for the pointers Bill. It sounds like hooking up with a good realtor in the area is one of the most important first steps. I would like the contact information of the lady you spoke of. I will also e-mail you, not sure if you get notified if I respond on the forum.

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