First Buy & Hold Investment

[Sam Schroeder]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $120,000
Cash invested: $24,000

Single family residence in decent shape.

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

Investing in real estate had been a goal of mine for a few years before this particular opportunity fell into my lap.

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

Purchased this property from a former colleague who relocated but was unable to sell during the last recession. He resorted to renting but was never comfortable as a long distance landlord.
He was motivated to sell to me & avoided evicting the tenants. I was motivated to purchase it without evicting the tenants because I was nervous about vacancy. We negotiated a new roof into the purchase price after inspection. Tenants remain in place & have been great.

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional 30 year fixed.

How did you add value to the deal?

Seller was happy that I would work with the tenants. I was happy to keep the tenants intact because as a first time landlord I was nervous about vacancy & finding new tenants.

What was the outcome?

Property is cash flowing well & will be fantastic after I refinance. There are slightly more maintenance issues than I anticipated but nothing too major, for now. The neighbor isn't likely to appreciate a great deal but in this market it has gone up in value by $12,000 or so since I purchased it.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

The major lessons here have been about how to be a landlord but overall its been very smooth.

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

Dan Menzer or Home Seekers represented me. He's great.