Looking for stories from duplex owners in Indianapolis

[Gustavo Munoz Castro]

Hey there folks. I took my first trip to Indy last week and had a blast. Met up with several folks from BP (TK providers, wholesalers and PM's. I'm loving the south/near East side of town to acquire rentals. My goal is to maximize my cashflow and Cash on Cash return. I'm torn as to whether to get a SFH or a duplex. The agents I spoke to all said that there are hardly any duplexes in town and that those that are are in terrible areas. Turns out there are tons of doubles all over the place, most built in the early 1900's and running some rough numbers they can get 15%+ ROI. Here are my thoughts:

Pros

1) High ROI

2) Less issues with vacancy once stabilized

Cons

1) Higher turnover, they are considered a lower end property it seems, most rentals are SFH's

2) Bigger repairs may creep up since they're mostly older properties

Rough numbers I'm seeing for these kinds of duplexes:

Purchase Price: $60K-$70K

Gross Rental Income: $1100 - $1300 per month

Taxes: $1-2K per year

Remodel costs: ~$20K-$30K (guessing here, these tend to not cost as much in Indy from what I hear)

I'll be back in Indy next week to keep visiting neighborhoods and looking at properties and hopefully get my first rental while I'm there.

I'd love to hear from other duplex owners in the area on their thoughts and whether they believe these numbers are realistic? What are your turnover costs? What do you think of duplex vs SFH in Indy when investing for cash flow?

[Lionel Li]

Hey Gustavo, 

I was always told by my team in Indianapolis that 2-4 units have a higher turnover rate. As a tenant, if you share your house with another person or family, you sort of lose the "ownership" feel of renting a SFH. You'll also have to hope that you'll get along with the other tenants or it'll be a very long year for everyone and other factors such as utility split with a meter or driveway/garage use or the lack of. I'll admit the numbers, in terms of Home Price:Rent is more attractive than a SFH and your vacancy rate won't be either 0% or 100%. I've considered multifamily residential but, ultimately decided that I'd like to mitigate the risk of vacancy and open a bigger pool of potential buyers if I decide to sell in the future and invested in a SFH. There is no right or wrong, this was only my thought of MFH vs SFH and I'm sure many of the things I've said was just a personal preference and a certain bias I have but, you need to lay out all of the possibilities and make that choice that best fits yourself as an OOS investor.

Happy hunting hope you find yourself an awesome property in Indy!