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Closed on my first investment property!!!!

lightning

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Well, I have "mentioned" to a few of you guys in other threads that I was in the process of buying my first investment property, but a post by MJ on another forum we are on made me realize I never followed up about it!!! :D

After a month of stress, Friday was the big day, and I finally closed on my second house (and my first venture into real-estate investing!). :smx1: It is a very nice 3-bedroom 1 1/2 bath townhouse with a 1-car garage exactly one-mile from my other house. To say it is "convenient" would be an understatement!! I was back and forth between both of the houses all weekend, and its awesome to have a 2-minute drive from one to the other. I was reminded once again on Friday that it is REALLY nice to have friends to count on for a favor when you need them with a venture like this!! FOUR of my close friends showed up unexpectedly on Saturday morning to get to work with me and my GF on the minor renovations needed, and 2 of them stayed till 11PM last night!! We were working our assses off (lol), but we got so much done in 48 hours of hard work its unbelievable.

The place is in great shape, but to dress it up before the tenants move in next month we are:

-Installing two beautiful lighted ceiling fans in the dining room

-Ripping down all of the shiity looking crown molding in the living room, sanding and painting till we put new stuff up in the next couple of months

-Installing ceramic tile in both of the bathrooms

-Installing a new dishwasher

-Steamcleaning the carpets

And all of the other "usual" stuff of course (minor painting/detail work, cleaning, new contact paper in all of the cabinets, new door hardware and blinds, etc.

My tenants are scheduled to move in on May 15th, so we only have a few weeks to get it all done working around my INCREDIBLY busy work schedule lately. So its going to be a very hectic couple of weeks!

Overall, I have been walking on air all weekend, and I cant stop smiling about the deal I got on this place and the fact that I actually closed on it. Its awesome when everything just kind of falls into place, and I am definitely fortunate to have things work out the way they did.

I have learned so much from many of you since I joined this forum, and on many occasions I have spent HOURS reading through threads in this section and picking up tips from those of you who have done this before! For anyone who has contributed, I want to say thank you very, very much. This forum is fantastic! :icon_super: :cheers:
 
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andviv

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Congratulations!
Any pics available?
What's your expected cashflow?
For how long are you planning to keep it?
For what I read, it seems you are going to be the PM as well, correct?
 

lightning

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Thanks guys! No pics yet (aside from those that were in the listing) although I will get some very soon when we are finished working! :) We ripped up all the tile in one of the bathrooms last night and prepped it for the new tile today, so the place is coming along fast now!

Right now expected cashflow is about $100 a month. However, because I only put down 10% (wanted to stay as liquid as possible so I passed on the 20% they were looking for), I am forced to pay a PMI of $120 for the next 6 months, until I get the place re-appraised. When that happens and I can prove I have at least 20% equity in the place (NO problem at all!), I can get it dropped. So in the Fall my cash-flow will go up to $220 a month. :)

I am undecided about how long I should keep it..I had originally planned to only hold onto it for a few years, but it seems as though ALOT of the guys I know who have built their wealth through real-estate have done so by holding onto them (snowballing the payments until the place is paid off), so I am torn. Any advice on what my mindset should be on this? :)

I will remain the property manager as well. Because I know my tenants very well (they are friends of mine), and the house is so close to my own (same neighborhood), I figured this would help me get my feet wet in the stresses of being a "landlord" (lol). We will see!

Thanks again guys! :)
 
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LightHouse

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Def congrats in taking that step i know it has to be exciting for you. i remember when you sold your ... trans-am?? i think it was, to better yourself. you are now on your way!
 

lightning

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Def congrats in taking that step i know it has to be exciting for you. i remember when you sold your ... trans-am?? i think it was, to better yourself. you are now on your way!

Wow great memory!!! :) I am impressed! And yup, the sale of my beloved LS1 Trans Am, the car that I saved my asss off for in college, was definitely the seed money for this house and a few other ventures!

Thanks you again I appreciate the kind words! :cheers:
 

Eric

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I am undecided about how long I should keep it..I had originally planned to only hold onto it for a few years, but it seems as though ALOT of the guys I know who have built their wealth through real-estate have done so by holding onto them (snowballing the payments until the place is paid off), so I am torn. Any advice on what my mindset should be on this? :)


I read a quote a while back from someone who was into commercial RE. He said "you get rich by selling RE, but you become wealthy by holding RE".
 
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AroundTheWorld

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It feels good to take action, doesn't it! Congrats on your first step. ++
 

MJ DeMarco

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Congrats and keep us posted! Speed+
 
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lightning

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I read a quote a while back from someone who was into commercial RE. He said "you get rich by selling RE, but you become wealthy by holding RE".

I have heard that same quote. :) Thats part of the reason I am contemplating how long to hold it. Selling it in a few years and rolling the profits over into another one (rinse & repeat) could definitely help increase my bank account, but it seems holding onto properties and figuring out ways to buy new ones as they begin cashflowing can definitely accelerate ones net worth. I definitely want to learn more about this so I can make a better decision when the time comes. :)


Thank you again guys!!! :cheers:
 

LightHouse

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Wow great memory!!! :) I am impressed! And yup, the sale of my beloved LS1 Trans Am, the car that I saved my asss off for in college, was definitely the seed money for this house and a few other ventures!

Thanks you again I appreciate the kind words! :cheers:

keeping the same avatar helps the memory, its almost like a search quiery of the mind database. lol
 
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Runum

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Congrats and good luck with your first investment property. +++ speed
 

White8

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Congratulations!!

I'm definitely a fan of buy or build and hold. My dad was a developer and chose to keep the last apartment complex he built for just over six figures in 1972. Today it is worth around $780k. What really makes me sick are the lots on the Oregon coast that he dumped for $500 a lot in the late '60's that are now worth $150-200k each.
 

lightning

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Thank you again guys!!!! :) I will definitely keep you all updated and would love to be able to help others get started!!! My next goal is to hopefully pick up a third property and keep climbing the ladder!!!

Thank you to all who hit me with some speed as well, I appreciate it!!! :)
 

NoMoneyDown

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Congratulations!!! The first one is always the scariest, most exciting, etc., but more importantly its the one that gets you off the fence. Just don't do what I did and hop immediately into Property #2 without doing your due diligence completely. I still have my first property, but sold #2 for a $1k loss, however, I more than made up the difference in on-the-job training.

Again, congrats!!!
 

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