New construction first home purchase

[Tyler Ruff]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $296,000

This is our current residence. It's a 2018 new construction home and we love it. 2400 square feet, 600 of which is in the unfinished basement. Wife does not like the idea of house hacking but is "open to it because it makes financial sense". It's that comfort-sacrifice ratio we're still discussing. Backyard is not finished.

Mortgage is $1,550 including insurance and tax.

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

We wanted to stop being renters and buy our first home to live in!

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

We had been driving around the areas we wanted to live in every day after work and finally saw a sign "new homes starting in the mid 200's" and so we pulled over and ended up locking in a lot that very night!

How did you finance this deal?

We went through a mortgage broker who was referred to us by a coworker and friend. He's incredible and gave us a way better deal than any of the local Utah credit unions including UCCU who are usually the lowest.

How did you add value to the deal?

I'm not sure if this counts but we chose upgrades, colors, floors and other things based on what we thought would increase resell value. We added a fireplace, trendy black and white exterior theme colors, etc.

What was the outcome?

Well, we love our house but would love to start building passive income! The home building (and buying) process wasn't as scary as it was cracked up to be. We got through it just fine and had a great experience. I have since been bitten by the passive income bug and am looking for my second property!

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Ask everyone you know who has built a home for any upgrades they which they would have done. Best upgrades I'm SO GLAD we did:

Double shower— there's just something very special about being able to comfortably take a long shower with your spouse...

Garage sink. This is huge for me as I do all the auto repairs and maintenance on our cars and house.

Fireplace. Nuff said.

Extra lights in the garage.

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

We did not have an agent helping us buy, so this was a great bonus because that cash went towards our closing costs. We have no experience working with an agent.