Hello Fellow Real Estate Investors, I am excited to share some of my success stories with the rest of the BiggerPockets community, in the hopes that you may be inspired and hopefully gather some useful knowledge and insights from my personal experiences and my investment journey so far. I know when I started out in real estate investing, reading the BiggerPockets posts helped me quite a bit in terms of learning from others' success stories and advice, which ultimately influenced my investment strategies.

My Investment Strategy: It's important to keep in mind that my investment strategy is Buy-and-Hold, specifically utilizing the BRRRR strategy. This particular strategy largely influences the assets I pursue and invest in.

The property I purchased some time back was a Triplex, with one unit completely destroyed and in need of work, while the other two were below market rents. The building itself needed some clean-up and an overhaul to turn around the curb appeal to draw in new tenants.

Purchase Price: In the currently hot real estate market, I was able to acquire this property off market for $200,000.

Cash Invested: I put forth $40,000 for the down-payment, and a further $25,000 for renovations. Being able to take on most of the renovations myself significantly reduced the overall cost, while having the vacant unit allowed me to enhance the unit without disrupting any tenants. An additional $10,000 also went into replacing the roof, which improved the efficiency of the utilities while further diminishing the cost.

The renovations took over two months; however, that allowed for the restoration and improvement throughout the building and enabled me to approach one of the current tenants to offer some upgrades to their unit for an increased monthly rental.

The Outcome: After two months, a new tenant moved into the upgraded unit and we increased the rent in the second unit. This boosted the monthly gross rent that ultimately went up to $3,100, resulting in a monthly cash flow of $1,050. Once we are able to improve the third unit as well, the monthly gross from tenant turnover will increase to $3,500 per month.

Furthermore, the bank conducted a re-appraisal of the property for $400 to determine that the said property is now valued at $340,000. That takes the overall increase due to property appreciation to $140,000, while generating an annual profit of $12,600 on the property.

Lessons Learned: I have learned that the most promising avenue for finding deals is off-market. This approach saves the seller quite a few costs, such as for the Real Estate Agent, and also provides the buyer with a solid opportunity for generating returns. Bear in mind that such a deal is not possible without getting involved in hands-on work, which is crucial and truly allows for further growth of the portfolio.

I hope this particular instance from my investment journey can serve as an inspiration and a guide for fellow investors on this platform, and I would welcome and greatly appreciate any feedback or comments.

Happy investing!