First Deal Found Off Market

[Carly DuCharme]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Keller.

Purchase price: $438,000
Cash invested: $55,000

We purchased this 5bd 3.5 bath house as a buy and hold. We are currently doing a live-in rehab. The kitchen needed a facelift. The guest suite downstairs has a handicap accessible shower with no glass enclosure. We want to keep it ADA compliant but add an enclosure. Finally, we are replacing 2 exterior doors and an interior door.

During this process, we are looking for another home to purchase that we can move to (and eventually rent out).

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

We have decided to go for single family homes that will rent at $3500 and above.

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

We followed this home on Realtor.com for a few months. It suddenly went off the market, but was not marked as sold. We found the previous realtor and found out that the sellers took it off the market over the holidays to paint it. We said, don't paint it, we want to make an offer. Knowing that if they relisted it after the holidays, it would not only sell, but it would sell for a lot more, we made them an offer closer to their new listing price. They accepted.

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional financing.

How did you add value to the deal?

The kitchen was dated. We replaced old tile with luxury vinyl tile, painted the cabinets white and added hardware, replaced a dated eat in chandelier. The master bath was one room that had not been painted, and it was a dark brown. We painted it to match the neutral wall color used to paint the rest of the house. We updated the light fixtures. We updated light fixtures in the living room, dining room, and powder room, as well as an outdoor ceiling fan.

What was the outcome?

We are currently still living in the home. We still need to replace 2 exterior doors, and install a shower enclosure in the guest suite. When that is complete, we will rent the property.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

There are deals to be found in this market. You just have to be patient, tenacious, and creative. The deals are found in homes that sit, expire, or are taken off the market for some other reason.

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

We did use an agent. However, I was in the process of obtaining my license at the time, and now I am fully licensed. Our agent was ok.