First property is a 4-unit office building

[Bob Langworthy]

When I was 35 I set my first real estate goal: to own a multi-unit commercial building by the time I was 40. I'm an accountant, so I knew that I would have at least one tenant. I also had some particular areas of town (Brunswick, ME) where I wanted to be located. 

Having a goal motivated me, but I didn't quite go about it the right way (read: I didn't find BP until recently). I knew about real estate from both a practical standpoint (I worked for my dad who is a builder when I was younger) and from a theoretical standpoint having worked with many investor clients.

But I didn't work with a realtor, find a mentor, and work on my goal regularly and as I result, I failed to meet my goal. But it wasn't a total fail. I was 40 years and 7 months in August of 2016 when we closed on this building:

The price was right, the location is great, and it had a lot going for it including:

1) The prior owner had put very high end furnaces in fairly recently.

2) The siding, windows, and doors were all 5 years old.

3) Handicap accessibility to the two largest offices.

4) Parking for 20 in a town that has very little parking.

There were some issues to resolve, however:

1) The roof in the picture is the new roof that we had put on.

2) The building was vacant. Zero tenants.

3) Two offices needed a complete remodel (thanks, dad!)

4) A bathroom needed to be reconfigured so that two offices could share the one bathroom.

Within 2 months of purchase, I had moved in and had the second largest office leased out on a 5-year lease. Shortly after that I leased out 6 parking spaces to a neighboring business and found a tenant for the small office in the front right. 

I am now at full occupancy and am loving real estate ownership. With the help of BP and this great community, I have a new goal:

$2,000,000 of real estate with a cap rate of 10% by the time I turn 50. Hold me to it!