Being originally from Chicago, I have a connection to that area and surrounding suburbs. Discussed a deal with my sister since she was unable to get traditional financing and purchase her own home, I decided to purchase one and rent to her.

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

Helping out family & navigating an out of state investment opportunity. I was able to learn and practice navigating all the steps of real estate investing using technology and not physically being there. Also the fact that the tenant was "preselected" in advance of puchase.

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

MLS deal with the help of an investor friendly realtor. The home started at $105k and through negotiation steps, we got it down to $88k.

How did you finance this deal?

Traditional bank finance.

How did you add value to the deal?

Knowing that the home was going to have "owners" in it, I knew there would be a fair amount of sweat equity that could be put in. I added additional funds to help do some updates, but it will be somewhat of a house hack and get improved over the course of a year.

What was the outcome?

Smooth process to purchase and closed mid-August. Got my sister to sign a 1 year lease and now have an out of state property!

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Its always discussed to have a "team" in place for out of state investing. This belief was strengthened by this experience. I didn't need to be there for any of the process, but without having a realtor we trusted (will mention him below) and my sister who would handle all physical aspects of being at the property, would make it extremely difficult. Find yourself some good "boots on the ground" that can be your eyes and ears. Only real challenge is yet to be determined...working with family.

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

I found Jake Fugman on BP as a realtor and he connected us with Paul De Luca (https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/PaulD225)
They connected us with Zack Karp who became our lender.
All of which were fantastic to work with!!!