First investment house

[Nathan Moore]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $180,000
Cash invested: $12,000

First home I purchased with the intent to rent out in the future. I wasn’t able to afford the mortgage during my college days so I built a 650 dollar apartment in the attic and rented out the house to cover the mortgage.

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

I always wanted to have a real estate portfolio and knew this was going to be my retirement strategy.

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

It was a standard local realtor and lender deal for a first time home using an FHA loan.

How did you finance this deal?

I had some extra cash from painting houses in the summer and didn’t have to use that cash for college tuition since I was approved for a a student loan as well.

How did you add value to the deal?

I lived in the attic instead of using the “livable” space so I could use rental income to pay for the mortgage.

What was the outcome?

I still own the house and it is currently paid off completely.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I leaned the single family residences that are to my taste can only be rented to individuals with credit ratings of 700 or more. Every time I rent to individuals less than that there are delinquent payment issues.

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

Just the standard local realtor and lender