Lesson 3 - Defining your Buy Box

Hey, it’s Seth, I looked at 200 duplexes and only offered on 3.
Why? My buy box murdered the other 197 in under 10 seconds.

Today you’re getting mine, and building your own. So you never waste another Saturday on garbage again.

YOUR 60-SECOND BUY BOX (6 NON-NEGOTIABLE RULES)

• Price → $160k–$240k
  (5% down = $8–12k cash in pocket)

• Gross Rent → $2,200+/mo minimum (use market rents, if listed rents are below market, you have GOLD!)
  (covers mortgage + at least $300 cashflow)

• Rent Upside → Zestimate or Rentometer shows higher than current rent = instant equity

• Rehab Needed → Max $25k
  (I’m not a full-time flipper)

• Cash-on-Cash Year 1 → 15% minimum
  (beats the S&P 500 by a mile)

• Location → C or better neighborhoods only
  (safe, easy tenants, fast appreciation)

If it fails any one of these → automatic NO.
That’s how I screened 50 deals a day and stayed sane.

HOW TO USE YOUR BUY BOX EVERY SINGLE DAY

• Plug the price & bedroom filters into Zillow/Realtor.com alerts

• Email it to your 3 realtors: “Only send me deals that hit ALL 6 of these”

• New alert comes in → 10-second scan → 95% die instantly

• The 5% that survive? Run through the Rental Calculator

ACTION #3 — DO THIS RIGHT NOW (5 MINUTES)

1. Define your Buy Box

2. Copy my 6 criteria → change the numbers to match your market & income

3. Save it

No buy box = no discipline = no duplex.

Do this today and you just became a real investor.

Next lesson: The 60-second “smell test” that kills 99% of bad deals before you even open the calculator.

See you in Lesson 4!