My First Property (2010)

[Mike Szatkowski]

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $80,500
Cash invested: $11,500

A 3 apartment house in Western, NY where I live and rent out the other 2 units.

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

I bought this house in 2010 near the bottom of the housing crisis. There was a first time home buyer credit of $8,000 so I figured the risk was low. Since it was 3 units I figured I could rent out two units and live for free.

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

I knew the owner and had relatives rent apartments from this building in the past. The owner was older trying to get out of real estate business. I paid more than I probably could have but knew the numbers were good.

How did you finance this deal?

I did an FHA loan so that I only needed to put 3.5% down thru a local bank.

What was the outcome?

I've now owned the house for 8 years and still live in one apartment and rent out the other two.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I'm still learning lessons every day from this house. It was built in 1920 making it almost 100 years now. I was in my early twenties at the time and dealing with tenants, lawn maintenance, snow removal, plumbing issues, and everything else that goes along with it. There has been a lot of pain but the lessons are priceless.