DEAL SHEET · W37 · SEPTEMBER 11, 2026 |
Roots Fam,
Happy Friday! A few of us met up at JTV Hill Park this morning for our monthly Street Sweep. It's a good way to start a Friday, and an important reminder that the neighborhoods we cover in this newsletter aren't just names on a list. Wonderful people live there, and picking up after the place is one small way to hold up our end of that.
It is a good week on the board too, and here is the specific reason. Every one of the five properties below is occupied and collecting rent right now. No vacant units, no "this should rent for," no projection holding up the math. Two of them pay you from the first month.
It is also the first Deal Sheet we sourced entirely in house. Trent and Kyle brought the board, and the first thing we did with it was go read the leases.
Three of the five are marketed as 1% rule deals. On the rent they actually collect today, they are 0.87%, 0.87% and 0.73%.
That is not a trick, and the listings are not hiding it. The seller credits the gap at closing for every month left on the lease. It is a real thing worth real money. It also stops. So on every card below, the monthly carry is calculated on the rent the property collects right now, not the rent it collects with a subsidy attached.
Five deals. Here they are.
Every card runs on one model: 25 percent down, a 30-year DSCR loan at 7.125 percent, and the full assumption list is in the PDF.
3 bed / 2 full bath · 960 sq ft · Quarter-acre lot · Community Heights · Indianapolis, IN 46218
This is the only property on the board that clears its own costs without a seller credit propping it up.
ASKING $145,000 · it pays you $154/mo
Refreshed before the tenant moved in: LVP flooring, fresh paint, updated kitchen with butcher block counters, new carpet in the primary suite. Fully fenced yard, and a 720 square foot basement for storage or a future finish. Rented at $1,500 a month.
The play. Buy it, keep the tenant, and do nothing clever. At $145,000 against $1,500 in place, this is a real 1.03 percent with no credit required. The thing to solve before you close is the lease expiring in November 2026, which is about two months out. Ask what the tenant intends to do and price the risk of a turn.
Rent is owner-reported through the listing. We have not read the lease. Cash needed: $38,250.
817-819 Dearborn Street
2 bed / 1 bath per side · Both sides occupied · Off market · Indianapolis
Kyle brought this one to us off market, both sides tenanted, and both leases month to month.
ASKING $200,000 · it pays you $83/mo
Unit 1 collects $1,025, unit 2 collects $875, so $1,900 a month across the building. Nothing here needs renovating to produce.
The play. The number that matters is not the $1,900, it is the phrase month to month. Both tenants can give notice in thirty days, so you are buying today's income without the certainty a term lease gives you. That cuts both ways. It is also the fastest path to market rent if these two are under it. Get the actual leases before you write anything, and ask what the tenants have been paying and for how long.
Rent is owner-reported by the seller. We have not read the leases, and both units are month to month. Cash needed: ~ $52,000.
PARTNER · LONGHORN INVESTMENTS At Longhorn Investments, we provide financing for fix-and-flip, fix-and-rent, and new construction investment properties through a lending process that’s transparent, responsive, and built around real estate investors. Our 100% LTC financing provides qualified borrowers with access to up to 100% of their purchase and rehab costs, giving investors a powerful financing advantage while preserving more of their capital for future opportunities. Every borrower and every loan is treated like our first, and we work hard to earn your trust by delivering a reliable, professional lending experience from start to finish.
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3 bed / 2 full bath · 2,090 sq ft · Fenced corner lot · South Irvington · Indianapolis, IN 46219
The biggest house on the board, and the first of three where the 1 percent comes with a clock on it.
ASKING $169,900 · costs you $35/mo to hold
Roughly 2,000 finished square feet across two stories, a wood-burning fireplace, formal dining, two bonus rooms, on a fenced corner lot. Walkable to Jockamo and the shops along East Washington. Leased at $1,475 a month to tenants the listing describes as having a twelve-month record of paying early.
The play. The listing headlines 1 percent. On $1,475 against $169,900 it is 0.87 percent today. The seller credits the $225 monthly gap at closing for every month remaining on the lease, which is genuine money, and we do not have the lease end date yet so we cannot tell you what it totals. Ask for that date first. Then decide whether you want the house at 0.87 percent, because that is what you own once the credit is spent.
Rent is owner-reported through the listing. We have not read the lease. Cash needed: $44,475.
PARTNER · HAUS CONSTRUCTION Haus Construction handles routine maintenance, inspection responses, general contracting, roofing, exterior work, and full renovations, giving homeowners, investors, and property managers one trusted team for the job.
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2 bed / 1 full bath · 875 sq ft · Irvington · Indianapolis, IN 46219
Same seller structure as Butler, longer lease, smaller gap.
ASKING $129,900 · costs you $29/mo to hold
A tidy two-bed single family minutes from Ellenberger Park, Jockamo, SNUG Irish Pub and Sahm's Tavern. Leased at $1,125 a month through July 2027.
The play. This is the cleanest version of the three. It collects 0.87 percent today, the gap to $1,300 is $175 a month, and the lease runs to July 2027, so the credit has the longest runway of the group. Twenty nine dollars a month is a rounding error to carry. The real question is what this rents for in mid-2027, because that is the number you actually own.
Rent is owner-reported through the listing. We have not read the lease. Cash needed: $34,475.
PARTNER · CORE INSURANCE SOLUTIONS Jackson Blevins founded Core Insurance Solutions, an independent agency downtown. He's incredibly down to earth and great at what he does. Contact: Jackson · 317-358-6780 · jblevins@coreinsurancesolns.com · coreinsurancesolns.com
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2 bed / 1 full bath · 842 sq ft · Irvington · Indianapolis, IN 46219
Two doors down from Deal 4, same price, and the widest gap on the board between the marketing and the rent roll.
ASKING $129,900 · costs you $162/mo to hold
Effectively the same house as 34 N Catherwood, forty square feet smaller, same street, same price. Leased at $950 a month through April 2027.
The play. This is the one to look at hardest. It is listed as a 1 percent deal and it collects 0.73 percent. The $350 monthly gap is the largest of the three and the lease is the shortest, running to April 2027, so the credit is worth the most per month and runs out the soonest. Carrying it costs $162 a month until you can move the rent. If you believe $1,300 is achievable in Irvington in 2027, this is the biggest spread on the board. If you do not, it is the most expensive one to hold.
Rent is owner-reported through the listing. We have not read the lease. Cash needed: $34,475.
UPCOMING: Coffee & Connect, September 23
Indy is overflowing with development, and our September speaker has been on the front line of some of the biggest projects in the city.
La-Tisha Pirtle is the co-founder of MVGeneral Construction, a commercial firm that has helped build the State Archives Building and the Ivy Tech redesign, and the list keeps going.
Come hear her story and meet a room full of other Indy real estate people. It is free, it is early, and you will be out the door by nine.
Wednesday, September 23 · 7:30 AM · 6338 E Westfield Blvd
Also on the calendar. Indy Street Sweep returns Friday, October 17 at Willard Park. And the next Real Estate Masterclass is December 3 at Guggman Haus.
From the Roots Channel
Chad Schieler built a 1,000 unit portfolio in five years. He came on the podcast and walked through how, including the parts that did not work.
Five deals, one model, and the carry on every card calculated against the rent these properties collect today. No percentages this week, for the reason above.
If you want us to run the next property before you buy it, that is the whole job.
Plant roots, build wealth.
Max
P.S. Reply LEASES if you want the underwriting on any of these the moment we have read the documents. That is the only thing standing between you and the numbers.
This model is a comparison tool, not a property budget. It excludes utilities, turnover, legal use, furnishing replacement, debt-service lender fees, and property-specific capital work. It also does not assume appreciation. Read the lease, verify the operating statements, inspect the property, and confirm financing before making a decision.
