First rental property

[J. Warren]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $275,000
Cash invested: $30,000

I purchased my first single family home in San Bernardino, Ca back in 2016. Purchase price was approx 275k. I lived in this home with two roommates for about two years. Fast forward to 2022, I purchased my second home now rent my first home to a stellar tenant. The value of the home has increased a great deal due to the housing craze and renovations. I'm looking to leverage my first property to purchase a multi-property in the near future. Thanks for reading!

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

I discovered biggerpockets.com around the same time I purchased my first home. After listening to numerous podcast of seemingly normal people living off real estate, I thought to myself, why not me? I figured a home purchase would be the best way for me to build some equity over time and make a move toward more properties.

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

My good friend/real estate agent and helped me through the process. He did all of my negotiating on my behalf. We made an offer and boom, I got the home.

How did you finance this deal?

FHA first time buy program. This was back in 2016. The purchase price of the home was $275,000 at the time. It only required somewhere between 3 or 4% down.

How did you add value to the deal?

I lived in the home and renovated it over time. I did about 90% of the work myself. I attended "YouTube university" for training and dived in. I painted the entire interior, pulled all the carpets and laid tile, removed popcorn ceiling, and landscaped front and back. Shot out to my neighbor who showed me how to lay tile!

What was the outcome?

I lived in this residence from 2016 to 2022. Within this time, I married and became a dad of two beautiful angels. My wife and I decided to pack up and move further east to a new build. We hired a property manager and rented our first home to a great tenant.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

"Slow is smooth and smooth is fast". For me, real estate is a marathon not a sprint. Finding solid people who are willing to answer your questions and bounce ideas off of will do wonders for your understanding and confidence.