First Investment Property

[Gaired Jordan]

Investment Info:

Condo buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $155,000
Cash invested: $5,000

-1 bed 1 bath
-1st floor condo
-Washer & Dryer included
-Central A/C and heating
-Close proximity to Chicago Blue line and other public transportation

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

My now wife moved to Chicago and wanted to own a property instead of paying rent without building any equity. So she decided to buy a house to live in. We eventually wanted to move out to live in another section of Chicago, and so we decided to rent it.

How did you finance this deal?

Since we were living there first, we got a traditional SFH loan to cover most of the cost.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Condos are extremely lucrative in major cities. You constantly have people moving into and out of the city for work and college, which gives you the opportunity to better select a resident. It's also great to move into one before you buy it (if you're starting out) because you can get a better interest rate from the bank and can pay less down. Also living there can help you figure out potential costs that go into maintaining the property so you can better budget it as a rental property.

[Michael K.]

Congrats man! What area is your condo in and what kind of rent are you currently getting there?