All Forum Posts by: Megan Blythe

Can't wait to see everyone there!

Investment Info:

Townhouse buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $219,000

I currently occupy this property as a house hack. I bought the property in march 2020 and renovated it. Once I find another house hack it will be a buy and hold rental.

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

Found this deal on the MLS. When I found this deal there was a lot of doubt about Covid and the market hadn't gotten crazy busy yet. I was able to negotiate the price of this unit because it had been sitting on the MLS for a couple months and it was dated.

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional financing through a lender.

How did you add value to the deal?

I renovated the property and did a lot of the labor myself. I did all of the demo including removing the old carpet, baseboards cabinets, countertops, appliances and old tile. I paid for the popcorn ceilings to be drywalled over, for the vinyl plank to be installed, and for the granite countertops and installation but did everything else myself. Total renovation cost was around 7000

What was the outcome?

This is currently a house hack for me and will become a traditional rental once I find my next property.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I learned a lot during this process and will take that knowledge with me to the next one! I learned first off some lessons on financing and I would have done things differently had I known them first. I was very lucky to have guidance throughout the renovation and someone I could call when I had questions.

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

I am an agent so I represented myself throughout the deal. My lender was great with getting creative for financing despite my situation I would recommend him in a heartbeat

Thanks for this Ryan! Just what I was looking for :)

Hi Blake,

As Myka mentioned corporate/short term rentals are the perfect way to go if you have a furnished rental. Typically unfurnished units appeal to more long term renters than furnished units do. While this is not always the case this is generally my experience working with my clients that have furnished units. You have the ability to charge a higher rate with corporate and short term rentals however you will be dealing with more turnover and more vacancy versus long term renters. You could always advertise the property as furnished (at a higher price) OR unfurnished and see what kind of interest you get. In general my clients get higher rents for furnished units but tend to have shorter leases versus my clients with unfurnished units. I hope this helps and feel free to message me if you have more questions!

Hi Kenneth,

As others have mentioned, the amount of activity varies depending on the type of rental and what season. However from what you've said I would call that a very high amount of activity and im surprised you haven't been able to find a tenant yet. However, I always say that the right tenant is worth waiting for instead of rushing the process and renting to someone just to fill the vacancy. With the amount of activity you have, i suspect you will have more applicants on the way. I typically find it only takes a few applicants til I find the right tenant for my landlords, because I tell tenants right away we run credit and background checks, need income verification (paystubs) and are typically looking for 2.5x income to rent ratio. This seems to weed out applicants who are not serious about the property. I will say winter is typically slower (especially around the holidays) and alot of people who express interest will not show up to showings. I hope this helps and If you have more questions feel free to message me directly!

Woohoo! I am excited for this one!

Awesome! So excited for this event!

Hi! Count me in!

@Matt Stewart Thank you for the insight! this is what I'm looking for. Do you have any areas you can recommend in Columbus that might be better for a rental? 

Hi guys, thanks for the replies!

I am looking for a property to hold and rent out for a number of years. I would ideally like a single family home with 2-3 bedrooms and 2 baths. Probably in an upcoming neighborhood, I was told franklinton is being gentrified and is similar to how the short north was a few years ago. Ideally looking at around 100k and I'm willing to put a little love into the property. I am out of state (live in denver) so trying to do my research thoroughly before i buy.