College rental buy and hold

[Steven Stillwell]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Towson.

Purchase price: $285,000
Cash invested: $71,000

This is a college rental across the street from the University. Having played NCAA Lacrosse for 4 years with the team, I saw there was no landlords that the team/ athletics would go to for their college living. I wanted to fill that gap and rented it out the right after buying it through personal connections!

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

Having connections and being an athletics alumni at the University made me want to invest in the area by the school.

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

Drove by the sign in the yard and looked it up. It had been on the MLS for awhile with no interest due to some glitch in the system where it would not show up. Got in touch with the agents by lowballing offering and they came in with a counter that I accepted!

How did you finance this deal?

Traditional investor mortgage.

How did you add value to the deal?

Haven't yet but can add 2 full baths and a bedroom to make it a 4 bedroom, 3 bath house.

What was the outcome?

College Rental buy and hold.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

So far, so good :)

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

Yes worked with a lender and real estate agent. I would recommend Lee Stillwell as a real estate agent to anyone in the Maryland, Washington D.C., Northern Virginia area. Lamont Green as a lender out of Sandy Spring Bank.