Starting our REI journey in Northwest Arkansas

[Stephanie Cruz]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

We bought this cute little 2 bedroom 1 bath house in Northwest Arkansas, right in between downtown Fayetteville and Springdale. We plan to fix it while living in it and convert it into a short-term or long-term rental. We could not have done it without our amazing real estate agent, Zach Stanley!

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

The property is in a great location. We have a friend who lives in the neighborhood and has good things to say about the area, which made us feel confident about putting in an offer.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

During our tour, the property appeared to be in good condition, and we were comfortable negotiating the seller's lack of repairs, provided the cost did not exceed $2,000. This was a great suggestion from our real estate agent, as we were interested in purchasing a place we could fix ourselves as long as big-ticket items, like the roof and foundation, were in good condition. It was a bit of a gamble, but the inspection report came out great.

How did you finance this deal?

The property was financed using a conventional mortgage; this would be our second conventional mortgage loan.

How did you add value to the deal?

One significant repair we need to make is replacing the windows. During the recent winter storm, we discovered ice and water inside the house, so we've had to wipe them every day since we moved in. We also plan to paint the walls, repair the kitchen, and possibly add new floors.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

1) Make sure to have checks; we needed to write a check in so many instances, which we're not used to doing since everything is online these days. 2) spend the money to take good pictures of the property if you're going to put it up for rent. I didn't realize how different picture quality was when comparing phone pictures to professional ones

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Our Real Estate agent, Zach Stanley, was an absolute SHARK, and we could not have done it without him. As soon as the property was listed, the entire morning was booked with showings, and the seller had many offers. Given how popular that property was, we thought we would probably lose out to a cash buyer, but his suggestions were very helpful.