Base Hits, Not Home Runs — How Chris Leet Turned a 19‑Unit Into a Free Triplex

On this episode, operator Chris Leet breaks down his first apartment‑size acquisition—a 19‑unit in Frankfort, KY (16‑unit + triplex)—and how a partner backing out the week of closing forced a fast, relationships‑driven capital solve. We get into conservative underwriting, unplanned HVAC/water‑heater hits, managing rent bumps with legacy tenants, and why Chris prefers deals that pencil without interest‑only. Eighteen months in, he pivoted: split the asset, refinanced the triplex into a 30‑year loan with no cash left in, and sold the 16‑unit for $1.05M—returning investor principal early with 16–18% returns while keeping a cash‑flowing triplex. Base hits win the season.

You’ll learn:
• Structuring a JV vs. a syndication
• How to navigate early CapEx surprises
• Practical pivots: split, refi, sell
• The power of rooms and relationships in raising capital

 

Yeadon: Hey y’all, welcome back to the My First Deal Podcast by My First Million in Multifamily—the show where we tell the unvarnished truth about first deals in apartments. How do you find that first deal, move from single‑family to multifamily, raise capital, close, renovate, operate, refinance—everything all the way to stabilization. I’m excited to have Chris Leet with us today. Chris, welcome, brother.

Chris: Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.

Yeadon: We’ve known each other a couple of years now—two or three?

Chris: Yeah, somewhere in that range.

Yeadon: I’ve watched you grow your portfolio, and you just exited a 16‑unit recently, right?

Chris: Yep. It started as a 19‑unit purchase. I kept the 3‑unit and sold the 16.

Yeadon: Beautiful. And that 19 (the 16 plus the triplex) is today’s story—your first apartment‑size deal.

Chris: That’s right—my first time going full‑cycle with partners.

Yeadon: Before we dive in, how long have you been investing at any level?

Chris: I bought my first place in 2019.

Yeadon: So six years in. What kicked this off for you?

Chris: Family and legacy. I had a daughter around that time and wanted more than just a W‑2 path.

Yeadon: Still W‑2 today?

Chris: I am. The job’s changed, but I’m an outside sales rep for a steel manufacturer.

Yeadon: Love it. Just noting for listeners—it’s absolutely possible to build a legacy portfolio while keeping a nine‑to‑five. You don’t have to work 80 hours a week on real estate for it to work.

Yeadon: What was your first acquisition—single‑family, duplex?

Chris: A condo. Low‑income housing condo. Paid cash to keep the risk low and prove the concept.

Yeadon: Where did you learn the ropes?

Chris: Books, then a friend pointed me to BiggerPockets. I spent 6–10 months learning and picking a market. I’m from Kentucky and entry prices are lower there than in Arizona, so that’s where I focused.

Yeadon: Classic starting path—books, BiggerPockets, proof‑of‑concept deal. When did the shift to apartments happen?

Chris: After a few small buys. I tried the “pyramid”—2 units, then 4, 8, 16. That was the early vision. Over time I realized I wanted to go faster: HELOC on my AZ house for a 2‑unit and a 4‑unit, then an off‑market 9‑unit portfolio. Seeing the appreciation and momentum, I knew I had to scale with bigger deals and other people’s capital—speed up the velocity of money.

Yeadon: Exactly—collapse a 20‑year plan into five if you learn to use OPM. What barriers did you run into going multifamily?

Chris: Capital, of course. Then finding the right deal and market. And because I invest out‑of‑state, a trustworthy property manager was huge.

Yeadon: AZ to Louisville/Cincinnati is a four‑and‑a‑half‑hour flight and a time‑zone jump. Not nothing.

Chris: Right. I started making offers—probably 15–30 before the first duplex landed. It’s a numbers game: make offers where the numbers work until someone says yes.

Yeadon: Let’s talk about the 19‑unit. When did you buy and how did it come together?

Chris: 2023. It was in Frankfort, Kentucky—blue‑collar, bourbon country. An investor I knew through my agent was selling. It was under contract, but that buyer had to back out for medical reasons. I already had a relationship with the local bank doing the loan. They were willing to let me step in.

Yeadon: And you didn’t have the full 20% down.

Chris: Correct. I was selling an 8‑unit with the same bank. They agreed to take 10% of the down payment from those sale proceeds. That left me needing $100k cash to close the 19‑unit.

Yeadon: On a just‑under‑$1M purchase—so ~$200k down, $100k covered by sale proceeds, $100k left to raise.

Chris: Exactly.

Yeadon: What happened next?

Chris: I lined up a 50/50 partner for the $100k…and he backed out the week of closing. Then disappeared.

Yeadon: Brutal. Ice‑bath level brutal.

Chris: I started calling everyone. In two days I talked to 10–15 people. Brenda Gooden—through Deal Room—reviewed the underwriting and said yes. She wired in and we closed. We ended up structuring a JV: I held 55%, Brenda 45%.

Yeadon: For listeners: JV means everyone is active; syndication is where some are active (GP) and others passive (LP). JV was a great fit here.

Chris: We might have pushed closing a day or two, but we got it done.

Yeadon: Pro‑tip: schedule closings for Thursday, not Friday—you’ll thank me later. Okay, post‑close, what did you find?

Chris: The property manager—who already managed it and knew the tenants—said rents were $100–$150 under market and the property was in decent shape. New roof helped. But in months 3–6, the surprises hit: four to five HVAC replacements I hadn’t budgeted, plus five water heaters. Many tenants were long‑term and balked at rent bumps; some moved out, and older units needed bigger turns than expected.

Yeadon: What were average in‑place rents and your bump plan?

Chris: Around $600 in place. We aimed for $75–$100 increments—$675, $700, $750—leaning on the PM’s read of each tenant.

Yeadon: Loan terms?

Chris: Local bank, 25‑year amortization, 5‑year term, about 8.25% interest, no interest‑only.

Yeadon: I/O can juice cash flow, but I prefer deals that work without it. What was your original CapEx plan and hold timeline?

Chris: ~$50k for the 16‑unit component; we weren’t planning to touch the 3‑unit initially. Five‑to‑seven‑year hold. Then reality: $20k in HVACs and another ~$5k in water heaters in Year 1. At ~18 months, we realized to fully turn the 16 we’d need another $100k, but then we could likely push to $800–$850 rents.

Yeadon: So you pivoted.

Chris: We did. We split the 19: cash‑out refi on the 3‑unit into a 30‑year DSCR‑style residential loan—so no original cash left in that asset—then listed the 16. We’d also brought in a third partner along the way—Eugene Nyli—on a ~$60k 1031 exchange for a small stake.

Yeadon: List at $1.2Mish—where did it land?

Chris: Closed at $1.05M on the 16. That allowed us to return investor capital. Brenda and Eugene got their money back, and both earned 16–18% returns over roughly two years. We kept the triplex, now cash‑flowing $500–$600 a month with no cash in the deal.

Yeadon: No capital calls, investor principal back early, modest profits, plus you own a free‑and‑clear‑basis triplex (no cash left in). That’s a win.

Chris: The ROI looks smaller if you only analyze the 16’s sale—but the free triplex changes the story. Over time, amortization and appreciation make it even better.

Yeadon: Options ahead: refi to lower rates later, adjust to a 15‑year to burn principal faster, or sell and take chips off the table. Lots of ways to win.

Chris: Exactly.

Yeadon: Recap: You started with a W‑2, learned through books and BiggerPockets, bought small, then scaled. You joined Deal Room, built relationships, missed on a bigger raise once (great reps), then on this 19 you solved a last‑minute $100k gap via the room, JV’d 55/45, later added a small 1031 partner, powered through unplanned CapEx, pivoted to split the asset, sold the 16, kept the 3, returned capital with 16–18% investor returns, and now hold a cash‑flowing triplex with no cash left in. That’s how base hits win seasons.

Chris: Well said.

Yeadon: What’s next for you?

Chris: I’ve got ~50 units I own solo (no partners). With partners, I have an 8‑unit with Safety Gordon (Deal Room), and I just bought a portfolio—two single‑family homes and two four‑plexes—using private/hard money through 608B Capital. I also closed an 8‑unit portfolio with two duplexes and four houses. Plan: flip the houses now or rent a year and sell when the market’s better; hold the duplexes long‑term. Goal is to flip four houses this year—I’ve finished one, second is in progress. Rinse and repeat these portfolio plays: sell part, keep part with little/no cash in.

Yeadon: Love the creativity. For most people, it’s hard to “think outside the box” without exposure to other operators and structures. Books and rooms expand the box—podcasts, mentors, and peers show what’s possible.

Chris: I wouldn’t have gotten creative financing done on several deals without learning it from books and podcasts—and Deal Room.

Yeadon: Alright, two or three concrete steps for someone getting started?

Chris: 1) Educate yourself—books, podcasts, courses—but don’t become an information junkie. At some point you must act. 2) Join a group or get a mentor where you want to operate; it pays for itself on your first couple deals. 3) Be ready to pivot and make mistakes—you’ll course‑correct a thousand times.

Yeadon: Amen. Learn, take action, get around doers, and don’t be afraid of mistakes—especially if you can learn from someone else’s $300k mistake. Chris, thanks for coming on.

Chris: Thanks for having me.

Yeadon: Listeners, this is the unvarnished truth about getting your first deal in commercial real estate. I’m your host, Yeadon. We’ll see you next time.