Finally, Closed on a Duplex in Cleveland, Ohio

After failing a couple of times trying to get a deal, we finally nailed it. We actually made an offer on this same duplex before but we got rejected and so we just forgot about it. But then... we noticed it came back on the market. So we made the same offer.. - and it got accepted. All cash offer. That's really the way to go to get those offers accepted quickly. We had the cash for the purchase and the rehab. it needed about 20k of paint, basement stuff like water heaters and electrical work plus new bathroom tile, toilets, and whatnot. New appliances - fridges and stoves. New lighting.. See the pictures before and after.

We closed on November 1 2021, and rehab finished on December 18.

While the rehab was going on we scouted around for a Property Manager and we found a very competent woman who was keen on getting things right. We hired her company to do the project management to stay on top of the Contractor to make sure all was done in a timely manner. Later she would become our Property Manager. There were some hiccups along the way, I cannot lie. Some slight disagreements with the contractor on how the money was transferred and our Project Manager stepped in to ease the nerves for both parties.

I think the hardest thing to manage and to make it go right is dealing with contractors. They are a breed that needs to be understood. We had some bad experiences in the Malone property where they didn't even answer our calls resulting in us letting go of the property because we couldn't depend on any company to follow through on the construction. It was a small town with only a hand full of contractors. They had no time for small projects and disregarded our needs. This one ( duplex) faired better, we got the work done but not without ruffling a few feathers. We are here to learn as we go. We will get better.

After rehab, we found some tenants right away and we got what we needed to get a great ROI. Still, things went wrong and we had reported gas leaks and water heater problems and other little issues that demanded our attention. We want housing that the tenants will be proud to live in so it was a priority to get this fixed asap. We should be done with all the fixes . We using our rent to save for the rainy day when we need a new roof and other major expenses.

The last part of this story is the refinancing.

We paid cash for the house and rehab and we crossed our fingers for a good ARV appraisal. But we had to get the right lender who would lend. We found a great broker who would help us find the right lender and we can pass that on to you NSS Lending LLC with Neil and Teri .

info@NSSLending.com. They got us a lender that gave us 5.3% loan 30 year fixes for 65 % of the property LTV. the appraisal came in at 90k !! Not a perfect BRRRR but close.

We still cash flow around 340 $ a month with all the other expenses calculated . ( including the cap ex and the management fees)

We learned a lot with this property and we look forward to continuing our investing journey.