I didn't know what a 1031 was

[Brian Orr]

Investment Info:

Townhouse buy & hold investment in Mount Holly.

Purchase price: $120,000
Cash invested: $15,000
Sale price: $159,000

I bought this property because it was one of the few in the neighborhood with an unfinished basement. It cost about $5000 to acquire and about $10000 to finish the basement conversion.
I rented it with a small cashflow, about $140/mth for two years and sold for about a $22,000 gain.
I was new to self managing at this time and I was nervous about putting another tenant in. And at the time $20,000 gain was massive.
I then used that (I also didn't know what a 1031 was) to purchase a 4plex.

How did you add value to the deal?

By completed the unfinished rec room.

What was the outcome?

+/- $20,000 gain.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I exited the deal out of fear of self managing the property with low margins. Today it's trading at $257,000. $100,000 more than I sold it for 5 years ago. Had I had the confidence, or knowledge about a property manager, I may still own it.