This was my second deal! People often say the first deal takes you from the land of "dreaming" to the land of "fact." While I believe that to be true, the second deal is what really solidified my confidence as a real estate investor! This property is rented for $1250 per month.

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

Rich Dad Poor Dad has a CashFlow Classic game online where the goal is to buy cash-flowing properties and escape the rat race. That game is what inspired me to buy rentals!

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

I found this deal on the MLS. It was a 200+ day old listing. When I reached out to the seller, I had been looking for a property that met the 1% rule in the Broad Ripple area of Indianapolis with no luck. I had finally found one! The seller said he already had an offer he was about to accept and he wouldn't have time to show me the property that day. Without being able to see it, I wrote him a full price offer that day sight unseen. He said that was weird, but he was interested.

How did you finance this deal?

I used a traditional mortgage for an investment property that requires 25% down. The offer I was up against was all cash, so the seller was leaning towards accepting the cash offer even though it was lower. The seller actually had two financed offers fall through on this property already which was why it was on the MLS so long. He was ready to be done with this property and my finance contingency made him uneasy.

How did you add value to the deal?

I picked this house because it had a unique draw to it. It is near Broad Ripple Village which is a popular place in Indianapolis for college students and young professionals to pair up and rent houses as a group. This house had 4 bedrooms which is rare for the area - most houses have 2 or 3. I made sure to post professional photos when writing my rental listing and was able to rent it for $150/mo above what the previous owner was getting without me doing any additional work to the house.

What was the outcome?

The seller and his wife googled my name that night and found a random video of me on youtube. I later found out it was a video of me from college talking about the importance of leadership training. Completely unrelated to real estate! They liked me and decided to accept my offer. I couldn't believe it!

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Don't bend on your background, credit, & income requirements. My first residents were a young couple that opted for a 3 year lease. One met my requirements and the other did not. Four months later they broke up and one ditched town. The other could not cover the lease on their own. They ended up finding another roommate. The second roommate also left town after 2 months! Instead of evicting, I let them out of the lease and found another resident. I stayed strict on my requirements the 2nd time!