When I first realized that buying was better than renting

[Trevor Reilly]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment in Algona.

Purchase price: $250,000
Cash invested: $12,000
Sale price: $330,168

This purchase is what set me on my real-estate voyage. We were paying for an apartment in the greater Seattle area about the same as what we ended up paying month for the house. We picked up a property that was horribly smelly, needed some very basic repairs, and a lot of paint. We did most of the work ourselves replacing most of the flooring with laminate, the fence, the painting, the deck, etc., but we did pay for someone to come in and do the carpet.

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

I thought why pay someone else to make money of my rent when I could pay myself.

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

On the MLS, I believe I found it on redfin originally. I made a full-price offer within a few hours of it being posted for sale.

How did you finance this deal?

FHA Loan 0% down first time home-buyer. We ended up saving money by living here, and since it was an FHA loan we did not have any money down to begin with.

How did you add value to the deal?

Our own labor and some minor contracting work. We added a deck, fixed the fencing, and changed a bit of the landscaping. Our only personal investment was the cash we put into the projects recouped way more than we put in. Huge win!

What was the outcome?

A beautiful looking home (that we kind of miss) and a healthy profit.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Don't trust the first people recommended to you. Also it may have been worth renting the property after we moved out, but it was not something we were prepared to do at that time.

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

Going in - absolutely not. Coming out of the deal we sold through Faira and the experience was fantastic. We had already moved to another state in 2/2018, listed it in the middle of 3/2018 and it sold in 4/2018 with no hassle.