Harvard or a House? My quest for a castle.

[Kenan Heppe]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $375,000
Cash invested: $75,000
Sale price: $635,000

1100 sq.ft. condo in Hollywood, on Melrose and Vine. It was my primary residence as I pursued acting in L.A.

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

Building wealth at an opportune time

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

It was found on Zillow and through the help of a local real estate agent. The sale was a short sale, negotiated over a period of about five months. The asking price was 405,000, and I pushed hard to get 375,000. Eventually, we got it.

How did you finance this deal?

My father and I made a deal: use the money previously meant for Ivy League funds, spend only about 30% of it on college, and provided that I get outstanding marks at a state school, use the rest of the money for an investment in my long term wealth.

How did you add value to the deal?

The entire plan was my idea, but none of the money was mine. I proved to my father that, no matter what happens with my acting career, I'd be able to fully pay him back when the market recovers. If I am getting stable acting work by then, I'll continue doing that. If not, I can use the rest of the profits for grad school.

What was the outcome?

The outcome was amazing! I graduated with a 4.0 GPA in Chemistry from OSU, became the Lay's Chips Guy, I paid my father back, I'm acting nearly full time (although in China, so that' crazy), and I now have the resources to start many more projects.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Building wealth takes a lot of due diligence and A LOT OF TIME.