All Forum Posts by: Jimmy Vasquez

Harstel is an hour from Breckenridge but prices may be more reasonable as well.  

We recently sold a house where the tenant had been there for 8 years.  Our tenant kept telling us they could not find a new place to live.  We held fast that we were selling the house however, in lieu of evicting, once they had successfully exited the house, we gave them back 1 month rent, full deposit and paid for the moving truck and dumpster.  They did find another place to live and we were able to keep it amicable and out of the courts.  We've done this on a couple other occasions also.

Nomad strategy works great.  My wife and I have done it for 20 years and help other people do the same in the Denver/Colo Spgs area.  There a peaks and valleys but over time cash flow and equity increase.  It's a great way to get an owner-occupied interest rate and, especially now, take advantage of low rates.  

Looking for the beat up property on the nicest street is a great way to get sweat equity, which can help maximize cash flow.  Be sure to see if your condo includes parking space(s) and understand association fees and how they impact cash flow.

All, Has anyone here invested in a rental in Golden, CO? They do not appear to be open to STR except for something like 2 out of 12 months. Would love to hear your experiences.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence wholesale investment.

Purchase price: $139,000
Cash invested: $25,000
Sale price: $290,000

Bought as a foreclosure without a real estate agent. House needed cosmetic work. Windows were broken out, new flooring was needed in the basement, yard was a mess. Perfect duplex situation with separate entrance for lower level.

We lived in one room and we rented out the rest. Eventually we turned the whole thing into a rental and then airbnb.

This rental had awesome cash flow and great equity also.

We sold this house and purchased two investment properties with double the equity.

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

I was interested in under valued, foreclosure properties with sweat equity.

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

Found this deal on the MLS. Negotiated with the seller's agent. Deal took a while to close (5 months) but it was worth it.

How did you finance this deal?

Financed with traditional financing, owner-occupied rate. I put $100 down on this house.

How did you add value to the deal?

Sweat, sweat, sweat. There was cosmetic work to do inside and out.

What was the outcome?

House hacking paid the mortgage at first. Then it cash flowed great as a traditional rental. Decided to turn into a full time airbnb which increased cashflow further. Ultimately sold this house and bought two more.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Many lessons learned here:

1) Get some training from experienced renovation people before attempting projects like window replacement.
2) Vet house hacking tenants with background check and believe what you read on the background check.
3) The slope of the lot matters! Flooding is a thing ;)

Investment Info:

Single-family residence wholesale investment.

Purchase price: $139,000
Cash invested: $25,000
Sale price: $290,000

Bought as a foreclosure without a real estate agent. House needed cosmetic work. Windows were broken out, new flooring was needed in the basement, yard was a mess. Perfect duplex situation with separate entrance for lower level.

I fixed up the basement and house hacked. My wife and I lived in one room and we rented out the other three rooms. Eventually we just rented out the basement and then turned the whole thing into a rental. Owner occupied interest rate.

We made it through the real estate downturn and always had positive cash flow. This rental had awesome cash flow and great equity over time also.

We eventually sold this house and purchased two investment properties with double the equity.

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

I was interested in under valued, foreclosure properties

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

Found this deal on the MLS. Negotiated with the seller's agent. Deal took a while to close (5 months) but it was worth it.

How did you finance this deal?

Financed with traditional financing, owner-occupied rate. I put $100 down on this house.

How did you add value to the deal?

Sweat, sweat, sweat. There was cosmetic work to do inside and out.

What was the outcome?

House hacking paid the mortgage at first. Then it cash flowed great as a traditional rental. Decided to turn into a full time airbnb which increased cashflow further. Ultimately sold this house and bought two more.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Many lessons learned here:

1) Get some training from experienced renovation people before attempting projects like window replacement.
2) Vet house hacking tenants with background check and believe what you read on the background check.
3) The slope of the lot matters! Flooding is a thing ;)

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Colorado Springs.

Purchase price: $108,000
Cash invested: $40,000

This was a foreclosure turned fix n' flip turned buy and hold. We ended up spending more $ than anticipated on our first flip so we decided to long term rent it. This one has been a super strong earner but we are getting ready to sell it and buy two properties to increase our long term equity hold. We are willing to forgo large monthly cashflow today for strong equity build over time.

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

Buying foreclosures to fix n flip was fascinating and exciting.

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

Found this deal without an agent; ultimately the agent ended up taking commission as a transaction broker and I would have been better served by having an agent represent me.

How did you finance this deal?

Bought, renovated, refinanced, rented and now getting ready to sell and buy two more!

How did you add value to the deal?

Sweat equity baby

What was the outcome?

Awesome equity and monthly cash flow

Lessons learned? Challenges?

First times are hard. This was a first fix n flip. It took more time and money than we thought. That slowed us down on investments for a bit but we didn't stop.

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

Yes. Absolutely.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $205,000
Cash invested: $20,000
Sale price: $425,000

Bought as a primary residence, owner-occupied interest rate. Rented as an airbnb for many years whenever we left town.

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

We got a primary residence interest rate. We were able to subsidize income with airbnb as well.

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

Found this deal on the MLS. Lowest priced house in the area.

How did you finance this deal?

5% down!

How did you add value to the deal?

Sweat equity baby. Everything needed updating. Carpet, cabinets, countertops, yard. The thing this house had going was the most run down house in the nicest neighborhood. We could use everyone around us to help bring up the value and that's exactly what we did.

What was the outcome?

We made over 200K in equity and paid 3 years of mortgage with the airbnb proceeds.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

This was done over 9 years. It was our principal residence so that was OK but we wanted to do this over many other properties to gain the value of scale.

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

Yes lenders and agents.