Turned my first primary residence into a rental property

[Lester Charles]

Investment Info:

Condo buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $200,000
Cash invested: $10,000

New to this real estate game, but looking forward to learning.

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

Pandemic-era purchase. Interest rates were low and I had the money to invest. I also had recently gotten an increase in compensation at work which made me more comfortable with the idea of owning versus renting.

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

I had passed up on putting in a bid on this place and it went off market, but after a week it came back to the market because the buyer couldn't secure a loan. The seller's agent knew I was interested and reached out to him because I guess the sellers wanted to move quickly. I put in a bid and they accepted it the same day.

How did you finance this deal?

Bank of America

How did you add value to the deal?

Took advantage of two different grants that BoA offered.

What was the outcome?

Successful purchase.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I didn't ask for any credits when I should have. I also didn't inspect the property as closely as I should have. Some things I noticed only after the fact that were broken/not working: the hooks at the front door for keys were broken/kept falling off; the blinds in the bedroom and living room were broken/tangled up; and the sliding door to the balcony was old and didn't work properly. I should have asked for credit back from the seller.

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

Yes, worked with an agent who also happened to be an old acquaintance.