First investment Property, House Hack

[Michael K Gallagher]

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $318,000
Cash invested: $12,000

First investment adventure. Currently house hacking our first investment. 2 bed, 1.5 bath per side, off street parking, purchased it already flipped. Truth be told it wasn't the most impressive deal as far as cash flow goes but it allowed my wife and I to drop our living expenses dramatically. That money is now being re-allocated into our investment account for our next deal!

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

My wife and I made the choice to start investing in real estate and this first duplex was a simple easy way to drop our living expenses to start saving for bigger better deals.

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

we found it on MLS, the negotiation was fairly straight forward. Went back and forth a couple of times, we were the backup offer however.

How did you finance this deal?

We did a 3.5% down owner occupied FHA loan. Currently we are saving to re-fi out of the FHA into a conventional loan so that we can get rid of the PMI.

How did you add value to the deal?

it was ready to go when we moved in. totally gutted and re-done by a flipper before us. Truth be told the craftsmanship on a lot of the house after being in it for a while is lacking, however, I feel that it is at least teaching me things to look for in the future.

What was the outcome?

My wife and I currently still live here, and love it. We are in the middle of saving for our next down payment and looking for another deal, be it a single family or multi family.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

FHA loans are great to get into your first property or house hack! But there are a ton of hoops to jump through really over the dumbest stuff. So be ready for some extra BS.

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

Our realtor is the best! Rene Lanthron at Keller Williams Columbus.