Primary residence to investment

[Priscilla Swantner]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Charleston.

Purchase price: $260,000
Cash invested: $26,000

This property was going to be my primary residence only. In 2008, I got divorced and the market crashed the same year. My only option was to hold, in order to keep the property.

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

It was in a great neighborhood. I purchased with the intention to live in as a primary residence. It was my primary home for 4 years before I moved away. I kept the property because the market turned in 2008 and to sell, I would have sold at a loss. I've had the same renters in the home for the last 10 years.

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

I found it on vacation. I was living in CA at the time and vacationed in Charleston, SC. I negotiated the deal through a local agent and I was long distance.

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional

How did you add value to the deal?

The home was newer so no value has been added.

What was the outcome?

Cashflow $400 per month. No vacancy in the last 10 years.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

The challenge was that I needed to sell when the market was down. The biggest lesson learned is that when the market shifts, you lose when you sell below your purchase price. Hanging on to the property and cashflowing, even just a little at the time, was the right decision. Now, the mortgage is paid down to $155k from $234k in the 15 years that I've owned the property. And the value bounced back and is now worth $300k ($40k more than my purchase price).