My homes - one in Houston and other in Fort Worth

[Sandy Kurtzman]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Fort Worth.

Purchase price: $68,500
Cash invested: $68,500

Was my residence until a job transfer to Houston.

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

A job transfer required taking a cash out refi to buy a house in Houston. My husband stayed behind because of his job, but I had to move.

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

Took $96000 in cash out of our house in Fort Worth and bought a house in Houston. Now renting the house to my son for $200 more than the mortgage.

How did you finance this deal?

Cash out refi on house I'd paid cash for in 2012.

What was the outcome?

Now have another house in Houston, and two mortgages. Before that I had NO mortgages. The Houston house is a very nice house and nearly instantly had $50000 in equity because the area is close to IAH, walking distance to shopping and Lake Houston, and has NEVER flooded!

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I'm not sure I'd do this again. I really don't like mortgages, but if I ever move back, I'll sell the Houston house and pay this one off!

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

My lender, Debbie Richardson, made everything easy, every step of the way! She handled both transactions and everything went smoothly!
I highly recommend her and will happily share her information.