First Plunge into Real Estate Investing

[Ryan Niec]

Investment Info:

Townhouse buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $390,000
Cash invested: $78,000

First investment property, turned into a short term rental, walking distance to Arizona State University, Tempe town lake and downtown Mill Ave.

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

Over 14 years ago my wife and I spent our first anniversary at a Bed and Breakfast in Sedona, AZ. While there, we both remarked on how much we think we would enjoy owning a bed and breakfast. We’ll years later we finally took our first step to make that a reality, and are now providing great accommodations walking distance to the booming downtown Tempe scene. We are also looking to grow our portfolio of short term rentals and expand our cash flow to offset W-2 income.

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

Believe it or not this was the first property we actually visited with our realtor. We had been driving the neighbors and looking at the MLS for a bit. We were undecided at first and left without making an offer. A week later we started negotiations. We were fortunate to say the least (beginners luck) because shortly after the market really started to take off.

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional

How did you add value to the deal?

Some remodeling in the Master Bedroom, paint, Fully Furnished, Smart Home

What was the outcome?

It has been a bit of a learning curve, but we did achieve “Super Host” status within 3 months of launching. We still are learning how to maximize occupancy.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Learning to Manage a short term rental is an ongoing activity for us, we have done okay, but have a lot of room to grow.

Don’t go with battery operated Security Cameras for your smart home setup.

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

Kyle Karges did a great job as our agent.