My first investment changed my life

[Nicole Rueth]

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $400,000
Cash invested: $100,000

Our first investment (albeit begrudgingly to me then) was a brick side-by-side quadplex. Each unit has it's own yard and patio. It was bigger than I wanted to take on

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

This was purchase was my lesson in investing. I was befriended by a gentle man who for some reason made it his purpose to teach me about real estate as more than a job but as a long term financial investment.

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

Our Realtor at the time brought me this deal. The seller was a friend of his who was a Minister, selling the properties he had inherited from his mother. It was a good deal to begin with, however, we did negotiate money for a new roof and remodel of one of the units. This proved smart as hail is common in Colorado and allowed us to replace the roof with an insurance claim.

How did you finance this deal?

I put all of my investments on a 30 YR fixed Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac conventional financing.

What was the outcome?

This quadplex has become a stellar investment; worth over $650,000 today. We have it paying itself down in 15 years using rental income. Two of the four tenants are also original to the purchase giving us stability while we have also increased rents annually.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

There were many many lessons learned on this first one... how to find our first tenant, how to analyze rental increases, setting up ancillary services (like landscaping and seasonal maintenance), and how to manage tenant disputes. Through this first one, I started becoming intently clear on my goals for using real estate to build multi-generational wealth. To create something withstanding economic shifts.

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

I know a great lender ;-) I have also built an amazing A Team.. a network of Realtors, Contractors, Insurance, Legal, Management, etc. I would be happy to share them all!