Accidental Landlord, Looking to Get Serious!

[Frank Husted]

Hello Everyone!,

I just found BP in the last 6 months and began listening to podcasts while "commuting" 6 hours each way from Atlanta to Raleigh-Durham.  I'm now only commuting 1 hour back in Atlanta, which is great because I can listen to one podcast on my way to work and on my way home! 

In 2006 my wife purchased a home with 100% financing, just before we met, and I moved in with her shortly after.  After 6 years our family had started to outgrow the home and we started looking for a new home. Unfortunately in 2012, our home like many others, was underwater by $50-$60k and we felt stuck.  We had some savings, but not want to eat a loss on the house, so we ultimately decided to use our savings to put 20% down on our next home, and we listed the other for rent.  After refinancing the rental we were just breaking even on the property, but it was better than losing $50k!  We've been fortunate to have kept that property occupied, and had great tenants, with rent increasing yearly for last 4 years.  

After two years in our new home, I started working out of town, and we decided to move the family for the last year of the project so we could be together.  We debated selling our house, but we knew we would be moving back to the area in just 1 year and really liked our home so we rented that one out as well with the intention of moving back in.  I quickly realized that there was little to no rental inventory for that size/type home in our area and within 1 week we had several applications, and some offering more than rent we were asking.  The home cash-flowed extremely well, and appreciated nicely in just one year.  The tenants really wanted to stay in the home after their lease was up, and since we were making money on the property, we bought and moved into another home upon our return.

Now since renting out our first home, the market has recovered, and principal has been paid down by our tenants to where we could sell and break even, but I don't plan on it.  We stumbled upon this passive income thing and have realized its value in the short and long term.  I'm currently looking for my 3rd income property, but this time with a purpose. 

I'm interested in purchasing in , Alpharetta, Cumming, Gainesville, Athens and surrounding areas.  I have a busy work schedule, so to have time to visit properties I'd prefer to stay within a 1-2 hour drive.  Also interested in learning more about "creative financing".

So grateful that this resource exists!