First House Hack and Renovation

[Megan Blythe]

Investment Info:

Townhouse buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $219,000

I currently occupy this property as a house hack. I bought the property in march 2020 and renovated it. Once I find another house hack it will be a buy and hold rental.

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

Found this deal on the MLS. When I found this deal there was a lot of doubt about Covid and the market hadn't gotten crazy busy yet. I was able to negotiate the price of this unit because it had been sitting on the MLS for a couple months and it was dated.

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional financing through a lender.

How did you add value to the deal?

I renovated the property and did a lot of the labor myself. I did all of the demo including removing the old carpet, baseboards cabinets, countertops, appliances and old tile. I paid for the popcorn ceilings to be drywalled over, for the vinyl plank to be installed, and for the granite countertops and installation but did everything else myself. Total renovation cost was around 7000

What was the outcome?

This is currently a house hack for me and will become a traditional rental once I find my next property.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I learned a lot during this process and will take that knowledge with me to the next one! I learned first off some lessons on financing and I would have done things differently had I known them first. I was very lucky to have guidance throughout the renovation and someone I could call when I had questions.

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

I am an agent so I represented myself throughout the deal. My lender was great with getting creative for financing despite my situation I would recommend him in a heartbeat