First Rental Ever, looking for advice and help

[Jacob P. Cybulski]

Investment Info:

Retail buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $198,000
Cash invested: $40,000

Moderately small house in a gated community with a great atmosphere.

I am looking for ideas of what to rehab, how to add value and the home buying process*. I want to avoid using an agent in the process because I have yet to find one that will genuinely help me in the process.

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

A friend led me to believe this house is way below market value and wanted to me. But this area is growing and houses are appreciating big time, I believe holding this and renting it for a few years will allow me to gain a lot of value out of it.

Plus rental properties are the bees knees.

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

My friend is leaving soon and offered it to me to buy. He and his family have found a new house elsewhere and offered to sell it to me at cost.

How did you finance this deal?

Bank, as of now, I'm not sure where else to look.

How did you add value to the deal?

Renovating parts of the home that are outdated.

What was the outcome?

tbd

Lessons learned? Challenges?

tbd

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

no, my last real estate dealer was not very helpful honestly.