First Investment Property

[Nathan Zierer]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in St. Louis.

Purchase price: $76,000
Cash invested: $22,000

This was our first investment property. We started off slowly with typical bank financing at 75% LTV. Though we put more in up front on the loan, we only need to invest about $5,000 to force appreciate it from a B-/B property to a A- type property. Great little house and has been great for gaining basic understanding of property management.

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

We had been looking at all kinds of deals but never pulled this trigger, this one was affordable enough that we could just jump in and take the leap. We also know more about single family houses just because my wife and I grew up in them, made the transaction simple for that reason.

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

Found this deal on a 3rd party listing (Redfin) and did straight forward negotiations (offer, counter offer, took as-is).

How did you finance this deal?

Typical bank financing (75% LTV)

How did you add value to the deal?

The property was in a fairly good state but need minor repairs to trim and door function. We ended up painting, replacing all the outlets, light fixtures, fixed the garage door and added an exhaust fan to the bathroom.

What was the outcome?

It took us 3 weeks to get everything fixed up and cleaned. The property was rented before we we finished and the tenant moved in immediately after we finished.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

The biggest lesson learned... and I could never fix this now but just starting early and trusting your gut feeling. I will be much more aggressive in our next property to just push through the questioning thoughts.