Living, Learning & Repeating...some stuff

[Roger Ortega]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $59,500
Cash invested: $3,000

This is my very first post. I don't know if I'm filling this information out correctly or not, so please bare with me :D
1 bed 1 bath 800sf

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

We wanted additional income to help offset the pay cuts we took moving from NY/NJ to KS.

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

Our friend, Eric Nelson, is a real estate agent with KW. He knew we were looking to dip our toes in the deep waters of investing and came across a seller/investor who was looking to unload a property. This property had renters in it already. The fact that there were renters paying $700/mo, made it more appealing. We negotiated about $5000 off of the price. It needed a new roof. The seller offered to split, dumb me should have had it done before closing. We took his half off the price.

How did you finance this deal?

We paid all cash. Going forward we can't do that, but for this one I'm glad we did.

How did you add value to the deal?

Not quite sure we have. We've maintained, painted between tenants.

What was the outcome?

We've had the house now for just over two years and with the new tenants, we've had no issues with rent. We do need to fix some things, which we'll be doing in the next couple of weeks. We're now looking for a flip to help (hopefully) generate some capital for our next investment.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

The first renters ended up being delinquent almost monthly, despite our efforts. Eventually we were getting bits and pieces of rent, here and there. They ended up leaving in the middle of the night. I found out, reached out and was able to get $1000 from them. They owed $3000. Since then, we have a new tenant who pays less (family), but they always pay a few days early. We'll try to hold this one for as long as we can.

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

We worked with Eric Nelson of Keller Williams and I would definitely recommend him. We also worked with Busy Bees Home Improvement LLC in Topeka, KS. Aaron, the owner, is a good friend of mine who does amazing and quick work!