I'm curious... What was your first deal?

Question

I would like to find someone out there to follow, someone who has the same goals as I do.  So I would like to pose a few questions to see if I can pull out some knowledge... not only for myself but for others to view.  Anyone willing to answer these questions, NO selling here.

1. What was your first deal?
2. What were your goals when you first started out?
3. How did the deal end up?
4. What kind of deals are you doing now?
5. How is what you are doing now different from what your goals were when you started?
6. Is there any advice that you would have given yourself when you first started to help yourself from making a mistake or wrong decision?

To any that answer these, thanks!

Brian Wilkinson · Answer

1. What was your first deal? 
-> A sub-to that I spent 2 months rehabbing
2. What were your goals when you first started out? 
-> match my income as a concrete finisher
3. How did the deal end up? 
-> made approx $10K for 2 months of solid work  :oops: 
4. What kind of deals are you doing now? 
-> primarily tax foreclosures
5. How is what you are doing now different from what your goals were when you started? 
-> work a LOT less while banking a LOT more
6. Is there any advice that you would have given yourself when you first started to help yourself from making a mistake or wrong decision?
-> focus on one type of deal until you master it and don't try to do everything yourself.

Jason Fant · Answer

This is a fun topic! Here's my response:

1. What was your first deal? 
135 year old duplex to SFH conversion. We went all out with a full gut rehab, all new plumbing, electrical, 2 story addition, foundation repair, the works.

2. What were your goals when you first started out? 
To become a Fix and Flip investor.

3. How did the deal end up? 
Good, but it took forever. We weren't planning on doing as much as we did, but we bought the house dirt cheap, and thank god we did because we went $90k over budget  :oops: It took over a year but we made close to $60k, which certainly wasn't great for that much effort, but I think of it more as getting paid for getting an education  :D We certainly left a bunch of money of the table with it though.

4. What kind of deals are you doing now? 
Fix and Flip

5. How is what you are doing now different from what your goals were when you started? 
Nothing really, but it has been a wild ride in-between. I got away from investing for a while and started building in-fill houses right as the market tanked. I've recently comeback to my original goals after my home building business nearly wiped me out.

6. Is there any advice that you would have given yourself when you first started to help yourself from making a mistake or wrong decision?
Yes, plenty. The biggest 3 are:

1. Time really is money, so make sure you use good contractors.
2. Stick to your goals and keep a rational head. Getting greedy can blind you to risks that should be obvious.
3. Use debt only when absolutely necessary. Use other people's money as often as possible (just not in a debt situation)

Loc R. · Answer

Good topic.
          
          1. What was your first deal?
          
          My first deal was a triplex that I bought as an owner-occupied property.  I still own it.
          
          2. What were your goals when you first started out?
          
          To own as many rental units as possible.
          
          3. How did the deal end up?
          
          It was a major fixer, I didn't have enough capital on me at the time, so a lot of the repairs went on my credit cards.  It took me a while to pay those off!
          
          4. What kind of deals are you doing now?
          
          I am now doing buy & sell where I carry back the paper.  In addition I am also buying existing paper.
          
          5. How is what you are doing now different from what your goals were when you started?
          
          I originally wanted to having "passive" income from rentals.  As anyone will tell you, there is nothing "passive" about being a landlord.  I have determined that what I want is for my money to work for me, and that cash flow is the way I want to have it work for me.  Hence my current strategy.
          
          6. Is there any advice that you would have given yourself when you first started to help yourself from making a mistake or wrong decision?
          
          No, not really.  I don't think there's a better way to learn than to stick your nose in and learn on the fly.  I think the biggest piece of advice I can give anyone is to keep educating yourself on the possibilities and options out there.  Knowledge, paired with an open mind, is a powerful combination.

Account Closed · Answer

What was your first deal?

-> A townhouse forclosure that I spent 29,000 on when the similar values were at least 50% above that.

2. What were your goals when you first started out? 
-> Property value  appreciation for retirement

3. How did the deal end up? 
-> Good at the start, nice return on investment until a tenant trashed it and left me with incredible damages and no way to recover.

Compounded this by never having renovated before and made every mistake in the book, Bad contractors with no insurance did lousy work, 15$ a sq yard carpets that were destoryed before the unit was even re-rented, a water leak during renovation, too many appliances, garbage disposal, masher/dryer, etc..

Altogether spent close to 25,000 renovating, tile counter-tops, new roof, the works..

That was more then 20 years ago, now the unit is worth 130,000, down from 210,000, due to the late troubles.

4. What kind of deals are you doing now? 
-> Same type of rentals with appreciation potential, but very difficult  to value prospects due to the rental situation, so my bids tend to be VERY LOW.

5. How is what you are doing now different from what your goals were when you started? 
-> No different then then.

6. Is there any advice that you would have given yourself when you first started to help yourself from making a mistake or wrong decision? 
-> Stay away from wood frame houses, cinder block only. They stand up better.

Stay away from multi-level units, especially with a bath upstairs, stick with ranch style houses.

Renovate for low maintenance, make the units as indestrucible as possible.

Go to self-insurance as soon as the mortgage is paid off and you can put up a repairs account with enough cash in it.

Aly W. · Answer

My first deal was a rental property, as my strategy was buy/hold. It was a very bad first six months...house needed more repairs than the inspector ever found, it took 3 months to find a qualified tenant, and I didn't learn at first how to say no to the tenant once they were living there. Things have settled down considerably.
                    
                    Second deal was unfortunately similar. Unexpected repairs (burst pipes, replacement furnace), time to find a tenant, and then 5 months later, an eviction of the tenant. More repairs, legal fees, lost rent, etc., and 2 more months to find another tenant.
                    
                    Thankfully, a few things we did right were having enough in reserves to avoid disaster. We also started the eviction process immediately. We learned to say NO to any tenant's request that is not required by the city or Section 8. 
                    
                    We're looking to invest in garages and doing short sales now :) Different than the first goal, but as you said, just do it! Get started and see if that first (or second) deal works out. Then modify the plan. Even if things go wrong, you've accomplished something.

Myka M. · Answer

Okay... I'll break the ice and start.  My first deal was a lot from the city.  Horrible experience.

i bid on a house before viewing it or even driving past.  There was no house when I got there.  I still have the lot still paying taxes on it.  My goals when I first started were to become a rehabber.  I got the idea from HGTV of course but I have always loved Real Estate, always!

I am doing wholesale flips now but still have an interest in rehabbing... I am kinda stuck because the flip is so easy and quick.  I have three rental properties and have yet to rehab anything, I guess time and fear is holding me back from that.

What I am doing now is totally different from what I wanted to do at first and the advice I would have given myself is JUST DO IT! It took me forever to finally step out there.  Another piece of advice would be not to paint that basement  myself last year!  :cap:

Vernon Tryon · Answer

My first deal was in Bulk REO in California for 500 Million, if was and lot of hard work.
Vernon

Rich Weese · Answer

My first deal is outlined in other threads on BP as well as in the Meet the Investor section here on BP. Rich

Kathryn K. · Answer

My first deal was quite conventional. I bought a condo that was recently renovated as part of an apartment to condo conversion project.  The units sold out is six days, but I asked the listing realtor to put me on a waiting list. The waiting list did not exist until I asked to be on it, but it worked out in my favor because the guy who converted the apartments into condos was going to keep one of the one bedroom units for himself, but he decided to sell at the last minute. It was the best one bedroom unit in the complex and I got it. I paid 20k undermarket for it, bought it at 140K, rented it out with a 95$/month cash flow for 22 months, sold it for 217K with no repairs.  Pretty nice return, but I bought it conventionally, putting 20% down.  I was lucky I had no rental hassles whatsoever.  That was a good deal.

Some deals later I lost a bunch of money, so now I'm wholesaling and bird dogging mainly.

Danny Johnson · Answer

I know this post is a little dated, but I was interested and wanted to respond.

1. What was your first deal?
First deal was a burned house that I found while driving a neighborhood I was interested in investing in.  I sent a postcard to the owner and they called saying they were interested in selling.  The place was damaged pretty bad, but salvageable.  The problem was that they owed way more than it was worth (owed 60k and figured only worth $25k).  So, on the first deal, we attempted a short sale.  The bank accepted the $25k offer, but the seller, not happy about how cheap we were getting it, decided they were not going to show up at closing.   They were at least 9 months behind on payments.  The bank asked if we would like to buy the note for the $25k.  We did.  An attorney shortly after approached us before we foreclosed and offered to buy the note for $50k.  We did that also.  We learned A LOT with this deal!!!  He went on to fix it for around $45k in repairs and sold for around $150k.

2. What were your goals when you first started out?
The only goals I had were to flip enough houses to be able to quite my job.

3. How did the deal end up?
The deal went great.  It was difficult and there was a lot to learn, but that is what was so great about it.

4. What kind of deals are you doing now?
We (my wife and I) are doing rehabs and selling on new loans and with owner financing.

5. How is what you are doing now different from what your goals were when you started?
Our goals have changed to accommodate for creating passive income.

6. Is there any advice that you would have given yourself when you first started to help yourself from making a mistake or wrong decision?  Buy only in the parts of town that sell good.

Thanks for the topic, I enjoyed it.

I'm curious... What was your first deal?

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