Out of Nowhere

Well, remember how I started last post by talking about FOCUS?

Follow
One
Course
Until
Success

My business partner is a smart man and really decided to follow that mantra. And I admire him for that.​ Because I need to improve my focus. I've got the classic "shiny object" syndrome that plague the entrepreneur type.

So, after we lost out on three deals together (Partnership Leads #1, #2, and #3), my business partner decided to bow out of working together (just for the time being)...

BECAUSE

He just closed on a duplex in Forth Worth, Texas.

Like I said, he's a smart man, and he now must shift his focus on getting this new duplex in Texas turned around, renovated, stabilized, and rented. Which, pretty much leaves me back at square one. Sitting here with some cash, but no deal.

But guess what? Out of nowhere...sorta...

Something caught my eye.

What is it???

A duplex.

How'd I find it?

I didn't.

My business partner found it while looking at sold and listed comps for Partnership Lead #3. Introducing...

LEAD #4
This duplex is listed at $165,000 and should rent for about $850 per unit (so $1,700 total). Each unit is a 2 bedroom/1 bathroom, each unit is right around 1,000 square feet, and each unit has an attached garage space. It's in a good neighborhood with great schools and little crime.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF LEAD #4: HECK NO! I don't want this thing. The marketing photos make it look great, but on Google Street View it's on an odd block. There's an old couch just sitting on the sidewalk, it's at the end of cul-de-sac and surrounded by shabby looking multi-family units. BUT, there's still a lot going for it too. Rents are pretty high, it beats the 1% rule, and it's in a safe neighborhood with GREAT schools. It definitely warrants further research.

So, I get to work on my analysis.

The more and more I uncover, the more and more I like the property:

-It was recently renovated
-There's a tenant in the bottom unit on a 12-month lease paying $850 a month. This is great to know because now I can really see what market value for the top would be when projecting rental income.
-It's part of an HOA (which I'm not a fan of), but it's only $30 a month and it covers lawn care and maintenance on common property
-It's surrounded by two amazing parks with running/bike paths
-Even at asking price ($165,000) it beats the 1% rule ($1,700 per month in rent is >1% of purchase price)
-I love the appeal of getting a small-multi unit property instead of a single family. This will help scale my portfolio faster than expected.

I like this place a lot. A LOT. AAAAAA LOOOOOTTTTTT.

You know what that means...time to be aggressive and go after it!

Takeaways

• ​Not spreading yourself thin and dialing in your focus is the key to success. In this example, my business partner understands what's best for this portfolio and it's to focus on his latest investment property and not work with me right now.
• Sometimes an intriguing property will pop up out of nowhere when you least expect it. But, it still comes down to how much work and effort you put into the search. My business partner found this lead while looking at sold and listed comps in the neighborhood
• First impressions aren't everything. This latest lead was not attractive from the start. But digging into the numbers and neighborhood a little, revealed a great investment (at least on paper)

-Tyler

Next Post: Attack Mode