What not to do!

[Colby Easterling]

Investment Info:

Other buy & hold investment in Ozark.

Purchase price: $15,000
Cash invested: $15,000
Sale price: $5,000

Motivated Seller- 3 Lots total: (1) Commercial Building, (2) 1 Bed room Rental houses, plus an extra lot.

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

I could get my feet wet while not having overhead.

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

My buddy saw a for sale sign.

How did you finance this deal?

Cash: My buddy put down 5k and I put down 10k.

How did you add value to the deal?

They wanted 30k and we talked them down to 15k. This saved my skin on the exit!

What was the outcome?

The outcome was a rollercoaster of lessons learned! In the end my buddy and I nearly broke even after we included the monthly payments that we collected. Every payment felt like a shake down for a few months and then the ghosting started. Once we finally got the tenant out; we sold to a local investor who was planning on using it for his business. In the end it was a HUGE learning experience for me and I learned what NOT to do. I also learned some of my weaknesses and strengths along the way!

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Well, once I started the process of buying I was quickly introduced

to the importance of title insurance. The land was surveyed incorrectly. I also learned how NOT to screen a tenant and what class of property to NOT buy (for me in the future). The idea was that the buyer we were financing to would fix the properties up BEFORE moving in. Welp, that didn't happen... In the end someone who thought my tenant fully owned the property decided to burn it down for him. It was a wild time to be alive!

[Joe Villeneuve]

Quote from @Colby Easterling:

Quote from @Joe Villeneuve:

Quote from @Colby Easterling:

Quote from @Joe Villeneuve:

First lesson, which maybe should have been obvious (is now).
Garbage in, garbage out.

Second lesson.
Learn before you buy,...anything.  Getting your "feet wet", isn't a learning move, at least not a good one.  If you don't know how deep the water is, you may get more than just your "feet wet".

Third Lesson.
Cheap and discount are not the same thing.  See Lesson #1.

I didn’t realize this was public until I posted it. That property was still showing that I owned it so I just wanted to close it out as a reminder to myself. It’s a failure and it didn’t hurt my drive. I took a pause and finished my bachelors and stabilized my family since then. Now I’m going to start back with a little bit more planning. Thanks for your time! I don’t know how to make this post not public 🤷‍♂️. 

This is a discussion board.  It's public.  Where and why would have thought it wasn't.  If you thought it was private, then private to who?

I was typing this out from my profile page. I thought it would update the profile page instead of sending it to a forum. No reason to get all bent out of shape :) (it was showing that I still owned those houses on my profile and I’m getting ready to buy my legitimate first property this year). What you said is valid (I certainly learned those lessons that you mentioned. I’m educated now, but I had no one in my circle that really knew anything until now. I jumped too soon.) I mean no disrespect to you. Just wanted to say that for anyone else that found the post. Have a nice day!  

I'm not bent out of shape, just trying to help you the best way I can.  When you post here, you get helped.