My First Deal

[Quinlan Moran]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $175,000
Cash invested: $40,000

Single family residence, 3 bed, 2 bath, 1740sqft

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

I live in California and Id like to invest here. Specifically Ventura, Oxnard, Fillmore, Santa Paula and Oak View. However, since Ive never done this before I decided that the amount of capital needed in my desired markets was too great to risk testing my strategies here. So I looked else where, and decided that of state was more affordable.

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

I found it through a realtor I linked up with who owns many single family homes in Waco himself. I offered what I thought it was worth in order to cash flow positive after I fixed it up.

How did you finance this deal?

The downpayment was through my savings and the mortgage is a standard rental property loan.

How did you add value to the deal?

I painted it, redid the floors, put on new doors and hardware, fixed all the existing issues (leaks in roof, toilets not working, sinks leaking, water damage on exterior and upgraded the panel to a 220V)

What was the outcome?

So far so good, tenant is good and says " they plan on staying for as long as I let her. However the AC did break in the first 2 weeks so that was a heavy bill that really didn't increase property value.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

1. check the HVAC
2. make sure trees on the property are no trees on the property prone to falling. one almost hit the house after a storm.
3. make sure when you run the numbers on Texas properties to account for the increase in property taxes year over year.
4. before you buy in a new area be sure you establish some kind of relationship with an electrician, plumber, handyman, gardener, roofer

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

Yes, Sean McCann is the remax agent in town that I used. He was super knowledgeable of the area and a huge asset. He also owns many single family homes in the area himself as well.