Success story??? You tell me.

[Ryan Atnip]

I just closed two hours ago on my first big deal. I am glad it's over and I learned a lot of what not to do, but I made quite a bit of money (for me at least) and did something I extremely enjoyed.
Here's the details: A year and a half ago I closed on an REO that I bought for 15,000 dollars. It was a digusting 3bed 1bath with a detached 2 car and 8 city lots totaling nearly an acre. I did all the work myself, which I am capable of and enjoyed doing. That however was a mistake since it took me 10 months and about 12,000 dollars to rehab the house. I did save a lot of money but than again time is money. I tried to sell it myself and when I got tired of people offering to buy it on a lease option three months later we listed it with a realtor. I realize there is a lot of money to be made with lease options but not when your Father in Law is carrying the note ( my father in law is great but why risk family relationships). The realtor had it sold in three days and a month later when that fell through it went back on the market. So today after almost a year and a half we sold our investment property for 49,000 dollars. We brought home a check for 15,027 dollars and we still have the vacant lots which are worth around 8,000. I suppose it was a successful venture even if I did learn more of what not to do than what to do. Maybe the next one will be smooth sailing.