Lucky Winner: First Investment

[Chloe Dawn Murphy]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Logan.

Purchase price: $169,000
Cash invested: $3,000

Bought a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house to rent out to college students. Quickly turned the extra living room into a fourth bedroom. Rented the home for over two years with no major empty rooms with consistent cash flow. After two years I've made 70k in equity, planning to keep it rented for a few more years before selling.

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

I honestly fell into this deal only by sure luck. I moved to Logan and wanted a place to live that was affordable and smart. I found this great home with good bones and move in ready. Two years later I've had consistent monthly cashflow of $100-$450 depending on if I lived there or not.

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

I found this deal through a few contacts of mine, we were able to negotiate it down 10k due to it needing a new roof.

How did you add value to the deal?

Turned the living room downstairs into a fourth bedroom. New paint and carpet. Refinished the wood floors under old carpet. Landscaped the front & backyard.

What was the outcome?

After two years it has made 70k in equity, I'm so happy with the outcome I'm ready to make my second investment of house hacking and fix and flip.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Being a good property manager is key for keeping college students longer. Still so much to learn about managing, I would want to move over to renting to a family, but then I wouldn't have such a high cash flow. So many options to choose from and experiences to learn from.

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

Mary Murphy is an amazing loan officer she got me an incredible rate.