New Investor in South Carolina

[Aj Rankin]

Hey Bigger Pockets,

My name is AJ. I am a new investor located in the Charleston, SC area. I grew up in the area and I am pretty familiar with the market here. Over three years ago, my wife and I bought a house in the Park Circle neighborhood for $98,000. We put $25,000 into it and lived there for three years. We ended up selling it while it was in the ‘coming soon’ phase before it even hit the market. There was a bit of a bidding war as that is a hot neighborhood and we sold it for $242,000.

My wife and I recently purchased a new personal residence. At this new house, we have a guest house on the property. My parents sold their home and moved into the guest house. They pay some rent, help out around the house, and get to see the grandkids a lot, so it's a great setup.

We also recently purchased a quadplex in the area for $210,000. I am managing it myself to learn more about real estate investing. It cash flows at $1,500/month. So our total rental income including my parents’ guest suite is $3,600/month.

I think the area where I have learned the most thus far from Bigger Pockets forums and podcast would be financing. The BRRRR strategy, 6-month cash out refi, and hard money lenders have been great to learn about. My next goal is to buy a mom & pop apartment and keep increasing the amount of units I own. I think one of my biggest upcoming hurdles to break through to reach my next goal will be navigating around the debt to income ratio as I look to acquire more units. That's an introduction to me and where I am in my real estate investing journey. Thanks.

[Aj Rankin]

@Andrew R. Lucas @Jeffery Harris @Mark Nolan: Thanks for the welcome. I will send requests to connect.

@Apollo Rosante: I grew up in the area and we love it. I inherited 3 tenants at the quad and they all seem to be ok thus far. The new tenants who moved in the 4th unit are good thus far as well. It's a C/C+ property so the main thing I have tried to encourage them on has been upkeep of the apartment. We are taking care of deferred maintenance which should encourage this as well. I found it on the MLS, used a down payment from the sale of our personal residence, and found @Jerry Padilla on BP who helped get me financed.

@Troy Gandee: Thanks for the info. No kidding with the shortage of small complexes at the moment. I have a buyer's agent that I use but I would be open to getting emails or searches. I will send you a connect request so we can discuss further and exchange info.

@David Lowe: Thanks. Saw your message in the inbox and will respond. Best wishes to you all.