Talk About Your First Rental/Flip/AirBnB

[Wyatt Seidel]

Hey everyone! This morning I was thinking about a good topic to post about. I was reading through forums and I had the idea to talk about our very first investment experience. Please feel free to drop yours below and I would love to search through them. 

My wife and I decided in 2020 it was time to get into real estate. We had some construction experience and rehabbing experience but didn't know anything else. We lived in a small college town in Kansas so the price of properties was extremely affordable. We ended up finding a duplex that had been vacant for 3 years and purchased it for $60k (reminder this was the middle of nowhere Kansas).  We used a private lender to purchase the property and to rehab the property. My family was nice enough to drive out from the West Coast and helped us renovate the duplex for about $18k.

We renovated the upstairs (3/1), then the downstairs (2/1), and got some renters upstairs.  I didn't know anything about rents and cash flow. All I knew was I could save money on our monthly payment to our lender, so I let three of my buddies move in upstairs for a total of $900 a month.  my wife and I lived downstairs for two years and kept 2 of the 3 renters upstairs for the entirety of the time. 

We still had to pay out of pocket every month but as most of you know, the experience is what made it worth it. I'm a firm believer in stopping the analysis paralysis and going for it full send. You're only as smart as the experiences we've gone through. We were blessed to sell it 2 years later for $155k which made us a great profit for our next duplex in Kansas City. 

Share your first investment story, what you learned, and anything fun about the place. Thanks in advance!