My current SFH and some #'s.

[William Walker]

Hi,

I just joined the forum and figured I'd post about my SFH.

I've owned it for over two years now.  I purchased it in the Wilmington, NC area.  I researched the process and neighborhoods for a few months before even contacting a realtor.  I saw between 5-10 houses before putting in an offer that was accepted.

The property is a 3 bed 2 bath SFH. It has a garage and fenced in back yard. A gas fireplace, new appliances, new windows, and a new roof. Its 1200 sq. ft.

Purchase price: 135k

I put 20% down that I had from previous stock investments and some savings so about 27k

My "rehab" consisted of painting, yardwork, replacing toilet seats and light switches.  Just minimal stuff that I was able to do myself.  Total cost was around $500.

I went through a property management company as this is my first investment and I knew I was going to be out of the area for a couple years (PA school).  I had multiple people apply and had tenants move in after about 10-15 days of the property being for rent.  I rented it for $1250.

Over the first year I had a decent amount of maintenance costs, just lots of small stuff that added up.  I had to replace a section of the fence (biggest cost), a minor repair to the AC unit, repair the garage door opener.  Just lots of little things that the tenants found that I agreed needed to be fixed.  Probably spent about 1k, I have the numbers but not with me at this time.

After the first year I increased the rent to $1300.  My mortgage is $675.  I currently pay $156 to property management.  They were totally worth it the first year, but don't do much now that the tenants have settled in.  They tour the house twice a year and send me photos of the property along with any repairs they think are needed.

I think that's about it for now.  I was putting more towards the mortgage payments but have decided to save that money towards property #2.

[William Murrell]

Congrats on the success!  Glad to hear it's working for you.  I also think your idea of using the net proceeds for additional investment is a great decision.  Who manages your property?  I've used Intracoastal, Network, and Century 21 Sweyer.