2232 North 4th Street, Harrisburg, Pa. 17110
This property was acquired in May 2009 from a Harrisburg-based company that wholesales property. The purchase and the renovation were financed by a local private lender. The property is a five bedroom, one bathroom rowhouse located in a transitional neighborhood in the city's Uptown neighborhood. The initial cash expenditure was $37,900 for the existing property and $24,400 for the renovation. The renovation was completed on time but 3% over budget. The budget increase was due to an unanticipated roof repair. The project was originally intended as a renovation and flip, but this was not possible when the local and national real estate market deteriorated in late 2009. Upon completion of the renovation, the property was rented to tenants through the Section 8 program. The property is currently rented for $850.00 per month, and the tenant is responsible for paying electric and gas heat. After the property was successfully rented, we refinanced through Chase Bank and paid off the private loan. The primary strategic lesson here is that it is critical to have multiple exit strategies in a real estate investment. What we did here would not have been possible if the property were solely determined as a "flip."