My first home that I purchased when I was in the military

[Zuriel M.]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $54,000
Cash invested: $14,000

Located in a D neighborhood. 1000 Square feet 3 bed/1bath and next to an apartment complex.

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

Did not want to rent anymore. Needed a place to stay ASAP, the ex-wife wanted a turnkey house and I didn't know anything about real estate at the time.

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

Went through a local realtor, no negotiation attempt.

How did you finance this deal?

Qualified with a VA loan with no money down.

How did you add value to the deal?

Added a washer and dryer. I replace appliances often from a cheap vendor.

What was the outcome?

Years later, I still owe pretty much the same amount as when I bought it. According to Zillow, the value of the home has dropped from 54k to 25k in 2015 and has increased to 34k in 2019.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

For what I was making in my job, I should've took the time to shop for a better deal since the neighborhood has the cheapest homes in town! I don't have enough equity in the home to fix the central heat and air and did window units instead. The roof needs repairs as well so I'll find a contractor to do a patch up job for now.

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

I had a contractor that did all the rehab work himself for 4k but has lost contact with him soon after that.