First Rental Property

[Clayton Silva]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Fayetteville.

Purchase price: $120,000
Cash invested: $1

3 bed 2 bath with about .5 acre lot. Beautiful backyard that backs into a government owned forest. Trails and forest behind the house, brand new gutters, 2 year old water heater, 3 year old A/C. 2 car garage with large, built in work bench. Recently remodeled floors and beautiful stainless steel appliances.

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

Bought a house for $0 VA loan, and moved to CA but wanted to keep the house and have modest cash flow.

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

I had no idea what I was doing at the time.

How did you finance this deal?

VA loan

How did you add value to the deal?

I redid the yard myself with the help of my, now, fiance and my roommate at the time. We also added brand new gutters and will be redoing the roof. When I purchased I was able to talk the seller down a bit and negotiate them covering part of the roof as I knew I would need it when I bought the house.

What was the outcome?

TBD, it is being rented by a fantastic tenant who makes 11:1 the monthly rent which is comforting.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I am going to refinance it in March to get a lower rate and pull some equity out to help pay for the roof, but I did not adhere to the 1% rule and I should have. Regardless, I got fairly lucky for my first one and will be able to see some nice returns in the long run.

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

I worked with Heather Maynor (agent) in Fayetteville. She is fantastic, honest, and crazy hard working. I think we toured 20 houses in under 2 weeks.

I also work with Andrea Watson (property manager) she is really great as well. Quickly found great tenant and keeps me updated on the everything.

Lastly, Leroy Conner of Conner Repair and Remodelling (contractor). He was my personal mentor at the church I attended when I was there and he is very reliable and does great work.