The Andrew Hines Real Estate Investing Podcast · Andrew M. Hines

How to Turn Two Houses Into a Thriving 30-Unit Complex with Shawn DiMartile

·1 hr 3 min·4 clips

Sean says a new unit can cost $300,000 to $400,000 and still be worth north of $600,000.

Andrew opens with Sean joining from San Diego and moves straight into the infill work he is doing there. Sean lays out a project built from two houses that cost about $1.6 million each and will be combined, torn down, and replaced with a 30-unit multifamily building. The plan is to rent it, stabilize it, and eventually sell it. A big edge is that the site already has the right zoning. That leaves less room for entitlement fights and more room for permitting, architecture, and execution. The conversation keeps returning to risk. Sean talks through how he tries to cut down the ways a development can go sideways. Andrew presses on the financing details, especially the debt terms that decide whether the deal still works. They discuss DSCR targets in the 1.2 to 1.25 range and the fact that different lenders will size the project differently. Sean says the team is expecting a 30-year amortization structure and likely local-bank financing rather than agency debt. Prepayment penalties matter here, because they can make the exit cost more than it first appears. The episode also gets into how visible a bridge loan can make a borrower during a sale process, and why that visibility can work against them. Sean is blunt that timing and leverage create pressure, and the market will notice. The tone stays practical rather than polished. Andrew keeps asking follow-up questions that turn the deal into simple investor math. Sean answers in a way that makes the mechanics easier to use, not just easier to hear. That gives the episode its shape. It starts with the project story, moves into the constraints, and then stays with the numbers long enough to make the tradeoffs clear. Sean also mentions the kinds of lenders that may want to keep the loan on their books and why that can improve terms. The result is a conversation about development, but one that treats capital structure as part of the job rather than an afterthought. The episode ends with Sean sharing where people can find him through his personal site, his company site, and Instagram.

As heard by us

A grounded look at how an infill project is put together, financed, and kept on track.

Sean's project is a plain infill play with real moving parts: two houses bought, lots combined, both torn down, and a 30-unit multifamily building planned for rent, stabilization, and sale later. What keeps it interesting is the discipline behind it.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want the real math behind a two-house-to-30-unit infill development and how Sean tries to keep the risk contained.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from The Andrew Hines Real Estate Investing Podcast