SFR in Downtown Auburndale

[Christopher Reeder]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Auburndale.

Purchase price: $56,000

Foreclosure of a SFR in downtown Auburndale

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

First investment property to break the ice.

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

MLS. Selling agent stated bank would not negotiate but we made a counteroffer anyway. Bank accepted even though property had only been listed for 3 days.

How did you finance this deal?

Cash offer funded by self-directed IRA funds.

How did you add value to the deal?

Property was move-in ready and our experience didn't lend to having the knowledge of value-add at the time.

What was the outcome?

Closed and added a tenant. Have turned property over 4 times since first acquisition and made some major system repairs (roof, AC, plumbing). From my knowledge on BiggerPockets, I am revisiting property to evaluate value-add, rents and cash-out for new investment.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Tenant management was learned through trial and error. Being the first property, repairs were not a concern, but managing the rents and tenant agreements has been eye-opening. Current rents are well below market because I was focused on having tenants to cover costs without turnover.