My favorite purchase of 2012

In 2012, I had a very busy year.  I purchased 4 houses.  For seasoned investors, that may seem like a small amount, but for one person, that's a lot.

My favorite out of that group is the property I purchased in November 2012.  The seller is a pilot who used to live in the property, made a few minor improvements, then his job took him out of town about 3 years ago.  About a year ago, he moved yet again to another city out of town.  He lived about 1 1/2 hours away from this rental property and had a local property management company "managing" it.

I saw the listing come on the MLS the same day by getting an email alert.  It was listed for $23,000 and only included exterior shots.  But the property was in the same zip code as my own personal residence (which is my goal -- to have all my rentals within a 3 mile radius of where I live).  I immediately emailed my agent that I wanted to see it.  He contacted the seller's agent.  I was told that the current tenants were being "difficult" and would not allow anyone to see it.

So I drove over there, and knocked on the door.  I introduced myself and explained why I was there, that I was looking for a rental property and this seemed like a good one.  The woman that answered the door was very personable and showed me around. They wanted to stay in the house, and were a little worried that the owner was selling it.  She said he was a nice guy, but wasn't around and the property management company never fixed anything until they called the owner directly.

Well after seeing the inside and how good of a condition it was for a rental property, I knew immediately that I wanted it.  So I had my agent prepare a full price offer and it was accepted quickly.  Closing took place also relatively quickly (this was a cash deal) near the end of November.

I immediately set to work getting a few minor items fixed:
- Added railing to the front steps (insurance requirement)
- Fixing the chimney (needed tuck-pointing)
- New water heater (old one was rusty and leaking)
- Fix the toilet (was running)
- Replace the bathroom faucet (was broken and leaking)
- Fix the shower (also leaking)
- Change the locks (owner did not have a key but the neighbors -- his friends -- did which the current tenants did not like)
- Few other misc small things

All the fixes were accomplished for about $1500.

December 3rd and each month so far I have received the rent ($875) from the tenants like clockwork.  They were so happy they did not have to move and that things actually got fixed right away.

The tenants pay their own gas/electric, and take care of the yard (shovel snow, rake leaves, cut grass).