Novice investor from Fort Lauderdale Says Hi!

[Oliver Fernandes]

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to share some of my background, I'm 27 years old, married and the father of a beautiful 3 month old daughter. I'm also an US Navy veteran, having served four years aboard the US aircraft carrier Dwight D Eisenhower. That's where I was able to save most of the money to start this Real estate journey.

Real estate for me unfortunately came in not such a pleasant time since my mother passed away while I was living with her. Looking for a place to start fresh, I decided to buy a house in Fort lauderdale, for $150k cash. Originally being a New Jersey resident, I decided to rent the place out for $1650 a month, since I was finishing up college in New York City and still had a year to go. 

The whole experience started really good until the tenants started making some late payments, however since it was only a one year lease, I was able to work it out with them and everything got squared away. 

Noticing that the cash flow was there after the first year I jumped into my second property for $60k cash with a tenant already living there paying $860 a month. With expenses and some emergency money aside in case something happens, I'm still in the double digit percentage return. Now this is not an amazing property, but for that annual return, I think I made the right move. 

Now this year, I applied for a home loan for the first time (not a VA loan yet, I'm saving that one for a multifamily place) I'm currently searching for properties in the Fort lauderdale area. The max I'm willing to go is $140k on a property with 20% down, the mortgage company is charging me a interest rate of 4.75%, which with rents coming in from $1300 - $1500, I'm hoping to make a 6% - 8% return.

Hopefully if everything goes out alright, later on I can jump into another property and keep this one unit per year thing going. I also invest in the stock market just to diversify and have some form of liquid cash in case I desperately need it. I hope to learn a-lot from you guys and feel free to respond back with any tips, you guys can think of. 

Thanks Amigos,