My second house. Everyone thought I had lost my mind!

[Diana Baccus]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Pelham.

Purchase price: $115,000
Cash invested: $7,000

Single family house I bought from my neighbor. It is a town-home connected to my first property. 2 bed 2 bath with fenced in yard. All updated by the previous owner.

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

It was right next door and the owner just needed to sell.

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

For sale by owner with asking price of $127,500. We negotiated down to $118k with the agreement to go lower if it doesn't appraise. It appraised at $115k and that was the final price.

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional 5% down as a primary residence. I had to write a letter of explanation to the underwriter as of why am I moving literally next door from my first house. They were almost not willing to approve the loan... it was a scramble but I made it work.

How did you add value to the deal?

Some minor updates. The property was in great shape recently updated and it just appreciated as prices in the are raised significantly.

What was the outcome?

A year later I got married and moved with my husband to my property #3 in a different city

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I learned that when you give people tight timelines and push them, they make it work.

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

No! I am proud to say that I did absolutely everything to make this deal work - I created my own contract, addendum for price change, worked with my bank and did everything but the closing on my own. Learned a lot in the process.