First off site investment property!

[Paul Enzinger]

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment in East Setauket.

Purchase price: $364,000

Cash invested: $34,266

Small multi family which was completely rented out before or first mortgage payment is due! Very excited that our concept of Real Estate investing is working so far! 5 bed 2.5 bath / 1 bed 1 bath.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Our first son was born in January, so that provided a large impetus; working salaried jobs would put us in the rat race even more. I am a first generation American born and the first of my siblings, so I feel it's my obligation to try to make a better life than what I knew growing up with my folks and provide an example. Call me old fashioned...

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

My real estate agent who we are on very good terms with (she came to our son's Baptism) found us this. It needed some work which we were happy to provide because it gave us a good deal...forced appreciation!

How did you finance this deal?

HELOC for a portion of the downpayment, cash for the rest of the downpayment, and standard mortgage for investment property.

How did you add value to the deal?

Redoing the floors in the entire upstairs, doing the carpets, repainting, and power washing everything.

What was the outcome?

Unit is completely rented before our first mortgage payment. So far, so good.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

For now, it's a bit early for a perspective view, but make sure even after the purchase, you have enough capital for fixing and replacements. After we purchased, we decided to do a bit more in repairs than we planned, but we rationalized it by likening it to insurance to protect our investment.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

We worked with Jen Torre who was marvelous throughout the process. We purchased it first home through her too, so we have a good working relationship.