How to be proactive on finding a corporate transfer tenant and my biggest investment mistake on rental #1

[James Park]

Back in 2006, I made all the beginner's mistake in buying my first rental home. I paid full price for $546,000 on a new construction 5 bed / 4bath 3900 sq/ft with a basement home. I put down $200,000 and took out a 30 year fixed loan of $346,000 at 6.375. On top of that I paid a real estate agent $19,000 of commission for 2 hours of work as I had found this property on my own. She made $10,000 an hour on me.

Luckily back in 2010 i was able to refinance the loan for $337500 at 4.75%. Today the balance is $320,000. My carrying cost on the home is $2300/month which includes HOA + PITI. One thing that saved me from losing this one was a great corporate transfer executive who paid me $3000/month for seven years. I don't think i will ever find a tenant like him as I think spent $200 on the home in the last 7 years. He took meticulous care of my property : painting the home, putting in a fence, paying for any repairs needed .

Unfortunately last Friday he told me that he will be purchasing on a million dollar home nearby and will be leaving in early January but will pay me rent for January. He did very well in his business venture and recently sold his company. I was very thankful to this tenant as he allowed me to keep this home in the midst of the greatest real estate crash in history. He is my dad's age and very generous.

As I was trying to decide whether i should continue to rent this property or sell it, I noticed if the last 12 month appreciation where to happen in the next 12 months my home would appreciate another $100,000 back to the level i had bought in 2006. If i sell it now that would the opportunity cost i would lose. Looking at the comps the market rent for my home is between $2700 - $2800/month.

I will be listing my own property on the FMLS, but the rental market is very slow during this time and I would prefer to find a corporate transfer tenant again. What proactive steps can i take to find a corporate transfer. I was thinking about contacting the HR of NCR which is a fortune 500 company about 10 minutes from my rental property.

Perhaps in 10 years, I can say that my biggest investment mistake i made in 2006 was one of my most profitable investment.