Accidental Investment Property

[Tithi Mehta]

Back Story: When i separated from my husband we agreed that he would keep the house....fast forward 3 months later and I discovered that he could no longer afford the house because it went to foreclosure and dumped the house on me. I paid approximately 10K and saved the house and got it rented out within a month. I had to save the house because my job monitors my credit periodically and I need to have a clean record. The house is right outside Denver and the tenants are amazing people, the first year i paid 300-400$ a month out of pocket... I paid for management fees and water bill. This year the tenants renewed the lease but i'm still paying 200$ out of pocket. If i refinance My mortgage will lower by 300$ (so i would cash flow 100$) but i will be stuck with another 10K to top off the loan... question 1: Should I refinance? The tenants are also property owners with 10 properties to their name so i want to keep them in the house.. this time they signed a 15 month lease... I'm also worried about raising the rent in fear that they might leave. (I'm such a newbie investor) If i was to raise the rent what justification would i provide? Should i even raise the rent?

1.5 years post divorce I finally have some savings to my name approximately 30K.. i was thinking about purchasing another property in Orlando FL or Indiana before the end of the year. Now i've been reading all sorts of books but i'm lost in some areas. I've never been to Florida... Do I just buy a ticket spend a few days looking for a home and get a property manager there? I've seen homes there for around 150-170K (So 30K might be enough for a down payment with some creative financing) ... What are the best ways to buy out of state? How do people generally go about buying in places they've never been? Also what kind of interest rate can I generally expect if my Credit score is 720? If you've been buying out of state what process do you generally use? What tactics? Any pitfalls I should be aware of?

As of now my goal is to buy before November this year... I'll appreciate any constructive feedback/criticism...

Many Thanks