Two doors per closing. That is the whole strategy.

Here is the whole thing, stabilized, at investor terms, with nothing left out — the same defaults as the investor calculator on our home page. Project $372,000. Conventional 25% down is $93,000, plus roughly $11,000 in closing costs, so about $104,000 of cash. Loan $279,000 at a 7% illustrative investor rate, 30 years: principal and interest $1,856 a month. Both units rented at $1,900 — what a new 3/2 side has been leasing for in the areas we build — gives $45,600 gross. Take out 8% vacancy ($3,648) and you are at $41,952 collected. Operating costs: management at 8% of collections $3,356 (a third-party rate; ours is lower), hazard insurance $4,200, flood $1,850 where a lender requires it, Orleans property tax $6,084 with no homestead exemption because you do not live there, and a 5% maintenance and capital reserve $2,280. Total operating $17,770. That is a net operating income of $24,182, a 6.5% cap on cost, and after debt service about $159 a month of cash flow with a DSCR of 1.09. Thin, and we are showing it to you thin on purpose.

Four levers, and you should demand at least two of them before you buy. One: a lot where the lender does not require flood insurance. That alone takes the cap to 7.0%, cash flow to about $313 a month and DSCR to 1.17. Two: a lower millage. Jefferson Parish runs below Orleans, so the same building carries cheaper in Metairie, Kenner or the Westbank. Three: rent. At $1,950 a side — what some of our units get — with no flood, the cap goes to 7.3%, cash flow to about $393 a month and DSCR to 1.21. Rent is the input every other number multiplies, so verify it on your specific block before you commit. Four: your cost of money. At 6.5% instead of 7%, with no flood, cash flow goes to about $406 a month. Run your own rate.

Thirty percent down on the same building, no flood required, puts you at $111,600 down, about $437 a month of cash flow and a 1.25 DSCR. The cap rate does not change — cap is a property number, not a financing number. More equity buys you safety and lender comfort, not a better asset.

Because we are including the things that get left out. Most pro formas you will see for this market use a national insurance figure, no flood line, no management fee, 5% vacancy and no capital reserve. Year one on a new building really is better — with the warranty carrying maintenance, our own management rate and 5% vacancy, the pro forma above runs an 8.1% cap. Stabilized, with flood, 8% vacancy, third-party management and a real reserve put back in, the same building runs 6.5%. If a 6.5% stabilized cap on brand-new, wind-rated construction with no deferred maintenance does not clear your hurdle, that is a real answer and you should not buy — we would rather you find that out here than at closing.

Yes, and lot selection is where most of the risk sits. We check zoning for two units, lot width and setbacks against our footprint, the flood determination on that specific address, utility connection distance, and site conditions — fill, clearing, demolition. Any one of those can turn a cheap lot into the most expensive part of the project.

Insurance and capital expense. New construction with current wind ratings prices thousands a year better than 1960s stock in the same parish, and you are not replacing roofs, panels and sewer lines in the first decade. Over a ten-year hold that gap compounds.

We build in sequence. Most investors start with one, stabilize it, then repeat. We will tell you honestly what our schedule can absorb before you commit capital.

Model them yourself with real numbers — use the cash-flow calculator on our home page and put in the insurance figure for New Orleans, not a national average. That one input is where most out-of-state pro formas break.

Yes for investment purchases. Note that FHA and VA financing require an individual borrower who occupies a unit, so the owner-occupied path and the LLC path are different deals.