Rookie Investor - 1st Purchase

[Adam Czajkowski]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in West Yarmouth.

Purchase price: $420,000
Cash invested: $50,000

SFR residence in central Cape Cod. Property will be used for short term rentals.

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

I was originally interested in multi. But the market in the Massachusetts area is still very competitive. I pivoted that towards short term rentals in Cape Cod. I saw that it appeared that there wasn't as much competition, you could still get away without having to put down 20%, and the winning bids were exorbitant over asking price.

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

Deal was found on Zillow/Redfin. Used an agent to negotiate the process.

How did you finance this deal?

Went through a conventional lender where we could put down 10% as a 2nd home/vacation. Was able to secure a fixed rate over a 30 year term .

How did you add value to the deal?

Doing small things right now and eventually want to do some value add projects to add forced appreciation (e.g. update the bathroom, add a deck)

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I'd have to say the entire process was extremely smooth, but that wasn't because it was an easy process. It was because I educated myself through BiggerPockets and other resources to prepare myself for this. I knew what documents to get for the lender and was able to make sure I was organized and gave them whatever they needed quickly.

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

Would absolutely recommend my realtor, lender, and inspector from this project. All 3 were instrumental getting this done.

[David Emerson]

@Adam Czajkowski nice work on breaking into the STR space! I love the detail on your post as well, super helpful. I purchased a multi-family as a primary residence in RI about two months ago, and I recently started looking at Newport / Cape Cod (primarily Hyannis) for a STR opportunity. Would love to connect some time to get some more color on how your journey is going!