House hack cash flowing property

[James Leach]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $179,000
Cash invested: $15,000

1566 sq. ft. 4 BD, 2 BA Single Family Home in West Phoenix. Bought and lived in this house till our son graduated high school and rented it out last year!

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

We were looking for a house to live in until our son graduated high school. We knew it would be a future rental property for us. We bought the house new and kept it clean. It is now a good cash flowing property that we used minimal down and were able to live in. It is in a growing area west of Phoenix.

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

A local real estate agent helped us find this property.

How did you finance this deal?

FHA loan that we later refinanced into a conventional loan once we had the equity.

How did you add value to the deal?

We had a 10X12 storage unit that we placed in the back yard that adds value to the property. This added about $100 more to the rents we could get. We kept it clean and looking new.

What was the outcome?

We were able to do a cash out refi on this property to pay off some bad debt and to put some money into other investments. It now cash flows around $600.00 for us at market rents. (Plus Storage unit) :)

Lessons learned? Challenges?

This was and is a great property in an increasingly growing area. It was a small subdivision surrounded by farm lands that is now beginning to be developed with housing and stores on every corner. Still growing as of 2023...

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

On the cash out refi, I worked with a broker that was very professional and expedient. The experience was very good as this was the first time working with a broker for lending. His name is Chris Makiri, he is now with Celebrity Home Loans.