All Forum Posts by: Anna Strausbaugh

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $690,000
Cash invested: $175,000

We purchased this cabin in McCall as a second home and have been running it as a short term rental. We found a great property manager, local cleaner and handyman. It's been renting very consistently and has had great cash flow so far!

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

We have been wanting a cabin of our own for years and once we found the right one we decided to rent it out when we aren't using it.

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

On the MLS. I am an agent so I handled the negotiations.

How did you finance this deal?

2nd home loan

How did you add value to the deal?

We turned a windowless storage/bonus room in the garage (that wasn't even counted in the square footage of the house when we bought it) into an arcade and game room, which has been a huge selling point as an Airbnb because it's really cold in McCall in the winter and not a lot of night life in the town so it gives kids and adults something fun to do in the evenings.

Thanks @Joel Wilson and @Eric Winkler! You both make really good points. It is definitely a risk if the market turns during a long build timeline, but if you buy it too close to completion there's just not enough equity in it to make it worth it (in my opinion). I was thinking of stuff that hasn't broken ground yet or is just barely getting started. This market is nearly impossible right now to make new construction cash flow unless you run it as a STR and a lot of the new neighborhoods have rules against them. One advantage that I have is as a realtor I know a lot of the builders well and know which ones are really delayed and which ones aren't as well as other strengths and weaknesses of each. Lots to think about and I really appreciate your input, super helpful!

Hi! I've recently been considering a new avenue of "flips" in our market here in Boise and wondering if anyone else is doing it or if it's worth it to do (particularly if it's worth the tax hit)? I'm a real estate agent, but also an investor and in this market that is tight trying to find good cash flow in long term rentals or margins on flips often being pretty tight as well if you aren't doing a lot of the work yourself. I've been seeing an interesting opportunity in buying new construction at the pre-construction phase and locking in your price early, then by the time it is finished you've gained $100k in value (sometimes more, sometimes less). Then you sell once it's completed and get great returns because there's so little inventory of completed new construction homes. Anyone else doing this? I'm trying to get my husband on board with the idea as he's much more conservative than I am when it comes to new investment ideas. I feel like it's fairly safe as long as we buy in neighborhoods that allow rentals, that way we can always rent it out if things go sideways and we can't get what we want for the place. I do feel like it would be a big tax hit on that gain if we don't hold it for long. Thoughts on this?

Hi @Danielle McMurphy! I am not personally doing it, but I lease one of my properties to a company who does this and have a few clients who also do it. It could be very lucrative in this market if you find the right property. I'd be happy to chat about what I know.  They just gave us a long term lease offer that we couldn't refuse with great terms so we went that direction, but if you can make a sweet deal on a lease for a property then I think it's a great way to build cash with low start up costs.

Hi @Andy Eakes! I have an excellent agent on my team who speaks fluent Spanish and I'm sure would love to help your clients. I'll give you a call!

Super interesting stats and articles, thanks for sharing! Like always, Idaho is right in the mix on all these lists. Thanks for all the info!

Hi @Laura Gilles, I have a great team here. My go to electrician is Kubik Electric (I don't think I'm allowed to post their phone number) they cover the whole Treasure Valley. And for HVAC I highly recommend 1A Heating and Cooling, his name is Santiago Ramirez, great guy! Good luck with building your team. Feel free to reach out if there are others you need, I am happy to private message you some more people.

@Ryan Garant, Chris made a lot of good points about interest rates and I would add just one more thing to that... No one knows really when a market will shift or when you are buying at the top of a market or not, but I work with a ton of investors and this market is still hot, they are still buying like crazy. All of the market reports that I read for the Boise area is that we are projected to have 10-15% price appreciation this year and I think that is a conservative estimate.

Also, that's awesome that you are in a position to be able to house hack, definitely do it if you can. You'll be fine! Best of luck!

No surprise there! Boise is #1 again! On one of my rentals we experienced a 40% rent increase this year and the others have all been 25%+, it has been pretty wild in the rental market here. Thanks for sharing @Demetrius Brown!

Hi @Nicholas Townsend! I recommend Boise Dev as a great site to check out to learn a ton about the area and what is happening around here. Best news source in Boise (in my opinion)! Totally Boise is also a good source, but is more focused on local events and Boise life. Let me know if you have any other questions before you move here! (I'm a realtor and would be happy to show you around when you get here to get a lay of the land). Good luck!