Single family buy and hold

[Levi Thomet]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $342,000
Cash invested: $90,000
Sale price: $649,000

This was a buy-and-hold investment I purchased when 18 with a partner. It was an 1800sqft, 3 bed, 2 1/2 bath in Eugene Oregon. Eugene ended up seeing a great property value increase over the next 6 years. For a first investment, this home turned out to be a very motivating factor to continue investing in real estate and branching out into the world of investing.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

This started as a college home that was rented to other students while I lived there. It seemed like a great way to keep from throwing money away on expensive student housing whilst building equity and still getting to experience living with other students my age.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

We found the home on Zillow and actually had to offer a tad above the asking price to beat out other interested buyers.

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional financing.

How did you add value to the deal?

The market itself exploded in Eugene, simple repairs were done to the home, but no drastic improvements were made.

What was the outcome?

After was all said and done, the home produced over 300k in profits and allowed me to have a decent sum of investable cash on hand.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I learned that I certainly understand the power of real estate investing if it is done RIGHT with the future in mind. Looking at the upcoming developments in the Eugene area inspired a lot of confidence that the town would see steady growth as more students came in to fill the new colleges that were being built as well as constant renovation and improvement to the downtown area. Look at all the factors and understand your market before you buy.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

I worked with Jill Mestler from Windermere. She was incredibly helpful and friendly, and really went above and beyond to make the home look as nice as possible for buyers. I would recommend her to anyone in the Eugene, OR area