Cheap Condo in Greenville, SC

[Grant Wilsterman]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Greenville.

Purchase price: $46,500
Cash invested: $13,900

Condo purchase to house hack and turn into my first rental. I purchased this condo based off simple cash flow analysis and using the 1% rule. I renovated the unit myself. I replaced all flooring with laminate wood flooring, gutted and refinished the upstairs full bath, repainted the unit, and repaired all other smaller issues with the unit. I lived in this unit during the renovation. I moved out and transitioned the unit over to a property manager in order to set it up with a Section 8 tenant.

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

This is my first investment deal and I was looking for a safer option where I could get a taste of renovations and a taste of the process. This deal has worked out very smoothly though the renovations took a lot longer than expected due to traveling for work.

How did you finance this deal?

I took a 20% down investment loan from a local credit union. Finding a loan for a property under $50k proved to be difficult.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

The biggest lesson learned was to consider location more important than I had. I was basing most of my search based on the rental numbers, not based on location. I bought in a less desirable area than I would have liked. This is a C to C- community and due to the size of the condo complex, there isn't anything I can do to change this. If my girlfriend doesn't want to be there at night, I probably shouldn't consider it for an investment property!

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

If you are in the Greenville, SC, I would definitely recommend Brad Ledford with The Art of Real Estate. He was fantastic to work with and a really friendly guy.