First Rental Property

[Blake Bobit]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Glendale.

Purchase price: $90,500
Cash invested: $90,500
Sale price: $182,000

4 bed / 2 bath house in Glendale, AZ. Bought at foreclosure auction in 2011.

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

Seeking cash flow.

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

Bought through a proxy bidder at foreclosure auction. At the time property prices were just starting to increase after the recession so it created a great opportunity to buy.

How did you finance this deal?

Cash.

How did you add value to the deal?

Did a cash-out refi for more than the original investment in year 1.

What was the outcome?

Some challenges, but overall a great investment and learning experience.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Had some issues with the tenant, primarily that the old owner had been saying she still owned the property so she refused to pay rent for the first six months. Tenant settled in court and paid back rent as well as legal fees. Tenant ended up staying in property on good terms for additional four years.

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

Williams, Zinman & Parham did an excellent job representing me in the case against the tenant.