All Forum Posts by: Anthony Katsonis

@Andrew Angerer

Thanks man! Yeah it was a great little house, sentimental as it was my cherry popper. Wish I had ten more just like it to sell!

Right on, well it is a great strategy to get started in the game.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment.

Purchase price: $259,000

Cash invested: $17,000

Sale price: $390,000

Live-In Flip.

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

We needed a new primary residence. We found this property and saw that if we fixed a couple small issued and updated it, we could stand to profit quite a bit when we sold it.

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

MLS

How did you finance this deal?

VA Loan.

How did you add value to the deal?

New Roof, paved the driveway, remodeled kitchen and baths, new laminate floors and new carpet.

What was the outcome?

Made a fair amount of tax free money that we rolled into a seven unit apartment building.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Living in a house with toddlers while fixing it up can be challenging.

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

Kathy Withrow was our agent, she did an awesome job!

@Xavier Scott

Awesome! Have you looked into househacking at all?

@Rahul Handa

That is the question that most everyone has in the back of their mind. They key here is that it is in the back of our mind. For some it is not ever on their mind, for others it is in the front of their mind. 

Me personally, it really is not a concern of mine if the market goes up or down because we buy properties for the long term that generally have value add and cash flow. When you buy on a 30 year fixed, your mortgage stays the same whether the market goes up or down. In the meantime, rents are generally going to go up. When you buy, make sure it cashflows and that there is plenty of margin for error. If the market goes down, it's a good thing because we have been saving cashflow from our portfolio and now we can buy properties at a discount with those funds.

Dollar Cost Averaging is a principal that applies to the subject of Real Estate just as much as it applies to the stock market IMO. That is, if over time, you consistently buy properties that are good investments for the long haul, you will come out ahead, whether or not the market is up or down. Hope that helps!

Investment Info:

Single-family residence other investment.

Purchase price: $162,500

Cash invested: $8,000

Sale price: $272,500

I bought it at the bottom of the market, no money down with a VA Loan. I lived in it for two years and fixed it up. Then I rented it out for two years $1,500/mo. PITI was $975/mo. Then I sold it after owning it for four years for $272,500.

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

This was my first Real Estate investment. I had always wanted to invest, and when I got out of the Army the market was way down and I could use my VA Loan so this was a no brainer.

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

I used the MLS and was represented by a realtor.

How did you finance this deal?

VA Loan

How did you add value to the deal?

I put a new roof on it, cleaned it up and resurfaced the driveway. Thankfully, the appreciating market took care of the rest. Oh those were the days....

What was the outcome?

I rented it out for ~$6,000 worth of cash flow over two years, and then sold it for $110,000 more than I paid for it. Closing costs when I sold it were minimal because I am a Realtor and I sold it myself. I put about $8,000 into it fixing it up so I'd say I made ~$108,000 on the deal. Plus I didn't have to pay taxes on the profit because I lived in it two out of the last five years!

Lessons learned? Challenges?

This was my first investment, I learned a ton! I learned that buying at the bottom of the market can make up for a lot of lack of knowledge about investing. I also gained some experience with Landlording and fixing up a property to put it on the market.

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

Camille Wessling was my realtor when I bought, she did a great job!

@Xavier Scott

No prbolem! What market are you located in? Do you have any thoughts on what kinds of investing you want to do?

@Maricruz Romero

Look into turn-key investing. I would consider it a viable option for someone that has cash to invest but doesn't know much about a market and doesn't have contacts to manage and do the work. There are tons of turn-key companies on BP, and they generally target markets that are good to invest in. But by all means do your own due diligence to make sure the market is good to invest in, and that the company make sense for your situation. Hope that helps!

@Ryan O'Leary

Look into turn-key investing. I would consider it a viable option for someone that has cash to invest but doesn't know much about a market or have contacts to manage and do the work. There are tons of turn-key companies on BP. Look into them and see if any of them make sense for your situation. Hope that helps!

@Brenda Henry - Congrats on your first duplex! I love to hear successes of people breaking out into the business.

Me personally, I would go over to them and introduce myself face to face, and I would let them know that I am their new neighbor and I manage the property now (don't necessarily need them to know that you own it, for various reasons, but that's up to you). Then you can ask them how they like living there, if they are planning on staying long term, etc. and go from there. If they say yes, that they want to stay long term, then ask them if they would like to sign a new one year lease.