San Diego VA House Hack

San Diego VA House Hack

Member since 2020 · 32 posts · 16 votes

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $1,140,000
Cash invested: $1

The deal:
-Location: San Diego, North Park/Normal Heights
-Gentrified neightborhood, brand new remodel
-Triplex with an additional detached studio.
-3 Bedroom, 1bath house and backyard (ONE UNIT)
-Duplex, Both One bed on One bath. (Two Units)
-Detached Studio in the back of 2 car garage.
-Electricity individually metered

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

Real estate investment books

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

Via Real Estate Agent Kenneth Donaghy

How did you finance this deal?

VA Loan. 1.14 million with $46,500 seller credit.

How did you add value to the deal?

Original listing price: 1.4 and 1.25. Made a low offer during the beginning of COVID with the knowledge that the sellers had a hard money loan they would want to get out of. Offered substantially lower than listing price but with an aggressive escrow timeline.

What was the outcome?

Rental Income (current rents, not projected):
3 Bed house: 3100
Duplex: 3470
Studio (AirBnB): 1450-1900
PITI: 6350
Income (without expenses): 8020-8470
Property is newly renovated with brand new floors, appliances, roof, etc.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

1)Knowing what the seller wants is critical. The seller wanted profit and to not get buried by a hard money loan interest rate. This allowed us to make a lower offer with a short escrow time. Terms Terms Terms. 2) Don't be impatient. We analyzed the numbers on over 120 deals (from San Diego all the way up to OC...multifamily to SFR). This was one of two properties out of the 120 that I felt "worked" with the numbers I wanted.

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

Real Estate Agent: Kenneth Donaghy
Mortgage Broker: Nick Lekas

These guys did an absolutely amazing job and have my highest recommendation.

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Most Popular Reply

New to Real Estate · San Diego, CA · Member since 2019 · 16 posts · 5 votes
6y

@Kenneth Donaghy got it! Thank you for the information.  I'll have to keep this in my back pocket for the future. 

@Christian Johnston Congrats on the deal! 

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  • Real Estate Broker · San Diego, CA · Member since 2016 · 355 posts · 195 votes
    6y

    @Christian Johnston Love seeing how these numbers are working out for you!!! 

    I would also like to add that not every buyer and inspiring investors have the ability to pull their first real estate investment like this. During our first conversation, I knew Christian education himself, had already analyzed properties, had the patience and smarts to use 3 sources of income (active duty, side hustle, and a portion of projected rental income) to pull this deal off. 

    @Nick Lekas did a great job brokering the loan, things got tricky during the early days of COVID, many lenders had a huge moving target with overlays.  

  • Real Estate Broker · San Diego, CA · Member since 2016 · 355 posts · 195 votes
    6y

    @Christian Johnston I also have to add, you closed on that property 30 days ago, and you already have all you unit's rented, your AirBnB set up and producing that income already. During a pandemic. 

    Really Well Done Brother!!!  

    Great Job!

  • New to Real Estate · San Diego, CA · Member since 2019 · 16 posts · 5 votes
    6y

    @Kenneth Donaghy if I'm reading this correctly, when applying for a loan you can use "projected rental income" when purchasing homes with more than one unit? When applying for a loan for 2-4 unit homes would this increase the amount one could be loaned? 

  • Real Estate Broker · San Diego, CA · Member since 2016 · 355 posts · 195 votes
    6y

    @Michael Mejia You can use a "portion" of projected rental income to help qualify for the loan. It can be about 70-75% of projected rents, if the units are not currently rented, the appraiser will do a rent survey. @Christian Johnston can correct me if I am wrong, if my memory is correct on this deal the appraiser's survey was below the rents Christian actually rented the units for.  

  • New to Real Estate · San Diego, CA · Member since 2019 · 16 posts · 5 votes
    6y

    @Kenneth Donaghy got it! Thank you for the information.  I'll have to keep this in my back pocket for the future. 

    @Christian Johnston Congrats on the deal! 

  • Member since 2020 · 32 posts · 16 votes
    6y

    Originally posted by @Michael Mejia:

    @Kenneth Donaghy got it! Thank you for the information.  I'll have to keep this in my back pocket for the future. 

    @Christian Johnston Congrats on the deal! 

     Michael, correct! Here is a spreadsheet I made that might help you: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/161QumXHxwVO6FeYsc9ASzaSVudfQs054UrAdSc9pMlg/edit#gid=0

    I made this to quickly identify if I could afford a property with the given additional income from the units. 

  • Rental Property Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2021 · 2 posts · 2 votes
    5y

    @Christian Johnston was this your first time doing a va loan?

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