First rental property..!

[Kwangmin Kim]

Dear BPs,

Around Oct. last year, I got interested in this real estate market in the US. Although I had some experience of dealing with apartment sales in Seoul, Korea, the US market (maybe Michigan market) is totally new to me because of some differences and confidence level. So, I went to one-day FB (Fortune Builder) seminar, and as you may know, I took another three days seminar which gave me shallow insight and ideas what to do. I want to made sure that I didn't take a $35K master program. ^_-

After meeting a few experienced BPs, I could buy one small property in Redford, MI and I finally closed it on Dec. 20, 2016. It was listed $54K and I bought it $47K which made me think this is a good deal. After starting repairing a house, I realized that I should have negotiated harder because the repair cost was going up and up and facing with unexpected inspection issues and other issues with a un-trustful contractor.  

Nevertheless, I moved forward and passed the inspection after spending around $5,000 repairing (Huk). Then I didn't know another hassle was coming. My colleague was supposed to come as a tenant, but he rejected it after wasting 10 days. Although I could understand him, this came to me another lesson (OMG). 

So I had to be brave enough to put on this rental property on Trulia and Zillow on March 10. It was very easy and I also learned that Trulia and Zillow are kinds of same company. Finally, a wonderful thing happened! I completed the lease agreement with 24 hours. I don't want to say it was easy but I made a deal both parties are happy, which I learned from BP seminar. Now the tenant is moving in on March 25...! I did it within 90 days (Sort of)

Items	Standard Cash Flow	Actual Cash Flow
Purchase Price	$47,000	$47,001
Repair and other costs	$6,500	$6,500
Total Cost	$53,500	$53,501
Cash to close	$13,375	$53,501
Monthly Rental	$920	$920
Mortgage (25% down 30 years)	$185	$0
HOA & CPA	$38	$38
Insurance	$50	$51
Property Tax	$142	$142
Mgmt (10%)	$92	$0
Vacancy (5%)	$46	$46
Repairs (10%)	$92	$92
Sub Total of Monthly Maintenanth	$644	$368
Monthly Income	$276	$552
Annual Income	$3,310	$6,621
Cap Rate (Net income / purchasing price) %	6.19	12.38
Cash on Cash %	24.75	12.38

Photos.

Lessons Learned

#1. Work with the trusted contractor

- Wasted more than a few hundreds of dollars for nothing

- Didn't pull the permit for Windows replacement which led the harder inspection

#2. Got to know about inspection process and timing to put a tenant

- Wait till COO but inspector told me that I could put a tenant in advance during City's inspecting.

#3. Experience itself. By doing this small property, now I gained some knowledge, experience, and confidence.

I would like to get your feedback and comment which may help to find a good deal and better execution.

Kwangmin Kim