Starting is the hardest

[Mitchell Rivard]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Reno.

Purchase price: $225,000
Sale price: $230,000

My wife and I bought this when we got married and moved in. When we bought this we planned on this being a house that we would live in for a long time. We moved out about 4 years later.

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

We just wanted a place to live in the neighborhood.

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

This was on the MLS. The guy selling it was a flipper, but didn't do a very good job. We negotiated a $4,000 discount on the purchase.

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional 80/20 loan to avoid PMI.

How did you add value to the deal?

There wasn't much value added. We did remodel a bathroom and saw the price plummet in 2008.

What was the outcome?

When prices recovered, we sold it because rent didn't cover the mortgage. The tenants didn't take care of it. We did get back the equity that had built up over time, and the tenants paid down the principal.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Check on tenant's care of the property. They don't care about your house.