First SFR investment by newbie.

[Charlie Gould]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Pine Bluff.

Purchase price: $27,000
Cash invested: $5,000

Property was a jungle. Needs a furnace. Solid home with hardwood floors, need to be redone. Mortgage with taxes and insurance $242.00. Moved out of apartment into this until I can prep it and rent it.

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

Listened to dozens of BP podcasts and a recurring theme was "get some understanding and then go get a deal" you may make a little money, you may break even or you may loose a little money. But no matter what, you will get a valuable education and the beginnings of a foundation upon which to start to build your Real Estate Investment portfolio. THEY WERE RIGHT... :-)

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

MLS. Price had just been reduced from 30,000 to 27,000. Gave them full price at 27,000.

How did you finance this deal?

Borrowed 5,000 from my brother for down payment and closing costs. I had no credit history (always paid cash). A month before the deal I had purchased a car for my wife and that gave us a credit score of 650, go figure??? When a local bank looked at my credit history and score and then looked at my employment history & income to debt ratio, (high income & virtually no debt, including no mortgage) they financed the 24,000 mortgage "in house" they did not send it to underwriting.

How did you add value to the deal?

Currently with sweat equity. Landscaping, cleaning etc...

What was the outcome?

So far... So good...

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Still working on these...