All Forum Posts by: Noah Dunlap

@Joe Splitrock I know someone who lives two houses down from the duplex and personally knows the couple who has been living in the one side for many years, and I would only have talked to them through my contact's introduction. The other side seems to turn over much more frequently, according to my source. Yes, I would be displacing the shorter tenured tenant, but what's wrong with that? Are you insinuating that only vacant houses should be house hacked? Also, I would be helping the owner to cash out and get full market value without the hassle of listing (if they decide to sell).

For the record, I will be taking everyone's advice to NOT discuss the property with the tenants.

@Jason Shackleton this house is currently not on the market, but I understand what you're saying. Thanks!

@Evan Polaski thank you for your advice. The house is in good condition and I'm willing to pay full price for it since my wife and I will end up buying a single family house to get more room for our growing family otherwise. But it's very tricky for me to assign it a value because just about every other multi unit house in this area is a 1900-1950 build and is within the town limits. This particular duplex is outside of town on a 3/4 acre lot and was built in 1979. The current owners purchased it in 2012 for $160,000 and our local market has appreciated about 22-24% since then. It's also a brick rancher duplex (which is rare in this area) and I'm not sure if I should compare comps of single family brick ranchers, or not.

I do have the owner's phone number (via Whitepages), I just wasn't sure if it would be a good idea to use it.

@Theresa Harris I understand that. I've been trying my best to write them a very short, concise and individualized letter so as to stand out from other mailers they've potentially received.

@Corey Hawkinson I appreciate your input. What would you suggest as far as marketing to them? I am willing to pay 100% (if not more) because my wife and I will house hack it, and that will save us more money than buying a single family house for us to move in to.

There's a specific off-market duplex in my area that I'd like to buy. I've been hitting the owners with direct mail for a few months now. I was considering sending them a few offers without even seeing the inside of the property, but I'd like to find out some more information before doing so. Would I be overstepping my bounds to ask the current tenants about the house and owner? As an investor, would it irritate you if someone was interviewing your tenants about your property?

Thank you for the explanation. That clears up a lot of confusion on my part about the lumber industry. 

As a truck driver for a local building supply store, I can definitely confirm your statement about decks. It felt like I was delivering nothing but deck packages to customers all summer. I don't have access to all of my company's numbers, but at our year end banquet (yes, we still had one of those despite Covid) we learned that our yearly sales were the highest in company history and they were up 11% from 2019, and June was the busiest month in company history. When I would go to our treated lumber supplier (Great Southern) to pick up a load, I routinely left with only half of what my PO stated because they were completely out of stock. The manager there went so far as to say, "if you're here for treated 5/4 decking, you might as well ask for my first born child."

Thank you for the explanation. That clears up a lot of confusion on my part about the lumber industry. 

As a truck driver for a local building supply store, I can definitely confirm your statement about decks. It felt like I was delivering nothing but deck packages to customers all summer. I don't have access to all of my company's numbers, but at our year end banquet (yes, we still had one of those despite Covid) we learned that our yearly sales were the highest in company history and they were up 11% from 2019, and June was the busiest month in company history. When I would go to our treated lumber supplier (Great Southern) to pick up a load, I routinely left with only half of what my PO stated because they were completely out of stock. The manager there went so far as to say, "if you're here for treated 5/4 decking, you might as well ask for my first born child."