My first rental - owner occupied townhouse to rental

[Ian C.]

Investment Info:

Townhouse other investment in Worcester.

Sale price: $148,000

Chose to keep and rent out a Townhouse in MA when I relocated to NY rather than attempt to sell in the depressed market at the time. Successfully managed the rental remotely for 7 years and through 2 tenant turnovers. Finally decided to sell the unit in late 2019 and move on to future opportunities in Rochester, NY.

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

I had been interested in real estate investing for years and decided to give this a try rather than loose money due to the depressed market at the time.

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

This unit was my personal residence from 2006 to 2012. It was originally purchased using a real estate agent.

How did you finance this deal?

FHA loan

What was the outcome?

I sold because I decided to focus on investments closer to my current location

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I learned my lesson about purchasing assets at the peak of a market and that housing prices can and will occasionally go down. Being a long-distance landlord had some challenges but was easier than I anticipated. I also learned that the market for townhouses does not recover from the housing crash as quickly as single-family homes.