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AW: Closing on a rental investment house this afternoon!

I'm excited to be adding another rental investment house to my portfolio.  It's a single family home, 3 bd/1.5 ba.  The purchase price is $38K, however, it needs a new roof, new gutters, and some other repairs.  But the good news is, it already has a tenant living there paying $1200/month and none of the repairs would require the tenant to leave.

The tenant has been there since 2008, so it's nice they are pretty long standing.

This will add about a $650/month cash flow to my income, after I subtract expenses and estimated future repairs/vacancies.

Re: AW: Closing on a rental investment house this afternoon!

  • I recently changed up my rental investment strategy.  I used to look for multi-family homes, thinking those would have a better return on investment, but it was few and far between finding good deals on those.  Recently, I started looking for cheap single family homes, that still rent for a good amount, and it has opened up a whole new world for me.  Those opportunities are EVERYWHERE in my area.  I wish I had the money to just snatch them all up, lol. 

  • Woohoo, that's awesome!  That's crazy good cash flow for right off the bat too.
  • Sounds like a good addition to your portfolio!
  • I find real estate facinating and I wish I had the guts to do this!
    Formerly AprilH81
    photo composite_14153800476219jpg

  • AprilZ81 said:
    I find real estate facinating and I wish I had the guts to do this!
    I definitely started really slow with buying a duplex as my first home.  Live on one side, rent out the other.  But after a few years of, "Wow, that was the best financial decision I ever made", the siren song of becoming more serious with real estate investing just got louder and louder, lol.
  • labrolabro member
    Fifth Anniversary 500 Comments 250 Love Its Name Dropper
    Congrats!!! Your success in this makes it so tempting to try and get into the business! Sounds like you'll get great cash flow off of this home!
  • short+sassyshort+sassy member
    2500 Comments 500 Love Its Fourth Anniversary Name Dropper
    edited March 2016
    labro said:
    Congrats!!! Your success in this makes it so tempting to try and get into the business! Sounds like you'll get great cash flow off of this home!

    Thanks!

    Atlanta used to be a really hot area for "buy and hold" real estate investing.  Which is basically what I do, buying a house to hold it as a rental.  It's still better than average but, with home prices rising at a higher rate than rents in Atlanta, it's not quite as good as it used to be.  At least that is the gist I hear on my real estate investing forum, but have not investigated myself. 

  • Congrats! That's awesome cash flow. I'm looking forward to dh opening his studio so he can get more renters.
    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • vlagrl29 said:
    Congrats! That's awesome cash flow. I'm looking forward to dh opening his studio so he can get more renters.

    Thanks!

    That will be exciting!  I've been following along with your all's progress on the building.

  • edited March 2016
    Congratulations, that is amazing! We're still trying to figure out how to purchase our first home in a few years lol. That's great, I'm glad you found such a great place.
  • Very cool - congratulations!!
    HeartlandHustle | Personal Finance and Betterment Blog  
  • vlagrl29 said:
    Congrats! That's awesome cash flow. I'm looking forward to dh opening his studio so he can get more renters.

    Thanks!

    That will be exciting!  I've been following along with your all's progress on the building.

    Framing is going way faster than I expected - they already have 3 walls up.  We are hoping for a June move in date.  It will be good to wrap this up.  Feels like its been going on forever.
    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • Congratulations!  

    We've been playing with the idea of adding real estate to our portfolio, but I'm so scared.  We know it would be a good source of income when I stay home, and I can manage the properties then.  Our area is very hit or miss on good renters though, so we need to do a lot more research on the right town to buy in. 

    TTC since 1/13  DX:PCOS 5/13 (long, anovulatory cycles)
    Clomid 50mg 9/13 = BFP! EDD 6/7/14 M/C 5w6d Found 11/4/13
    1/14 PCOS / Gluten Free Diet to hopefully regulate my system. 
    Chemical Pregnancy 03/14
    Surprise BFP 6/14, Beta #1: 126 Beta #2: 340  Stick baby, stick! EDD 2/17/15
    Riley Elaine born 2/16/15

    TTC 2.0   6/15 
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  • Congratulations, that is amazing! We're still trying to figure out how to purchase our first home in a few years lol. That's great, I'm glad you found such a great place.

    Thanks!

    For a first home, the best way to get ready when you have a few years is to improve/maintain your credit score and save up for as much of a down payment plus e-fund that you can.  A 20% down payment plus closing costs plus a healthy e-fund is optimal.

    When you are about one year out, start checking out online listings.  It will give you a feel for what to expect in different neighborhoods as far as pricing, size, and condition.  That way, when you are ready to start seriously looking, you should have a pretty good idea of your must haves and you will also recognize an especially good price.

  • Congrats! i'm in awe of the $38k price tag, for SINGLE FAMILY! that's amazing. Parking spots in boston sell for more than that... sigh.
  • brij2006 said:
    Congratulations!  

    We've been playing with the idea of adding real estate to our portfolio, but I'm so scared.  We know it would be a good source of income when I stay home, and I can manage the properties then.  Our area is very hit or miss on good renters though, so we need to do a lot more research on the right town to buy in. 

    Thanks!

    If I remember correctly, you live in a fairly rural area, but there is a much larger city about 1-2 hours away.  Just for lack of people, rural areas can cut both ways for both landlords and tenants.  It's hard for tenants to find good housing and it's hard for LLs to find tenants.  So, yes, vacancy rates can be longer.  But, on the plus side, once a tenant moves in they usually stay long term...because choices are limited for them also.

    The large city near you, even its surrounding suburbs, might be a good option.  It just depends on how HCOL it is.  Ironically, LCOL or MCOL are generally better areas for real estate investing.  Yes, the rents are lower than a HCOL, but the prices of real estate are even more substantially lower.

    It also doesn't take much time to manage, except when you are doing showings.  My strategy is to make good quality repairs and improvements the first time.  Fix it "right" instead of fix it for "right now".  I've had a variety of tenants living right next door to me for the last five years.  I'll go months and never hear from them, other than to collect the rent check, unless we happen to be hanging out on the porch or back yard at the same time.  It's pretty sweet.

  • NicA617 said:
    Congrats! i'm in awe of the $38k price tag, for SINGLE FAMILY! that's amazing. Parking spots in boston sell for more than that... sigh.

    It is definitely crazy how much real estate can vary.

    Even within NOLA, it varies by a substantial amount.  This particular house is, technically in NOLA, but way in the outskirts.  30 minutes from downtown and that is without traffic.  But a similarly sized condo in the downtown will be $2-3 million.

    And a similarly sized condo/house in the French Quarter.  Ooofff.  Fuhgettaboutit.  $4-5 million.

    Just a little outside the downtown/Quarter area, but still usually a nice neighborhood.  $150K-$350K.

    Though I'm sure even the FQ/Downtown prices sound cheap to a Bostonian!  There used to be an HGTV show that followed three Manhattan real estate companies.  Man, some of the NYC apartments I was like, "Yeeaahhh.  I couldn't afford just the HOA fees if that apartment was GIVEN to me, lol."

  • NicA617 said:
    Congrats! i'm in awe of the $38k price tag, for SINGLE FAMILY! that's amazing. Parking spots in boston sell for more than that... sigh.

    It is definitely crazy how much real estate can vary.

    Even within NOLA, it varies by a substantial amount.  This particular house is, technically in NOLA, but way in the outskirts.  30 minutes from downtown and that is without traffic.  But a similarly sized condo in the downtown will be $2-3 million.

    And a similarly sized condo/house in the French Quarter.  Ooofff.  Fuhgettaboutit.  $4-5 million.

    Just a little outside the downtown/Quarter area, but still usually a nice neighborhood.  $150K-$350K.

    Though I'm sure even the FQ/Downtown prices sound cheap to a Bostonian!  There used to be an HGTV show that followed three Manhattan real estate companies.  Man, some of the NYC apartments I was like, "Yeeaahhh.  I couldn't afford just the HOA fees if that apartment was GIVEN to me, lol."

    haha yup!  30min outside of Boston (North at least) without traffic (aka a 1-1.5 hour drive typically if you are commuting)  a 3b/2bath in a nice neighborhood is going to run you 350-450K+  for something that needs a lot of cosmetic work
  • brij2006 said:
    Congratulations!  

    We've been playing with the idea of adding real estate to our portfolio, but I'm so scared.  We know it would be a good source of income when I stay home, and I can manage the properties then.  Our area is very hit or miss on good renters though, so we need to do a lot more research on the right town to buy in. 

    Thanks!

    If I remember correctly, you live in a fairly rural area, but there is a much larger city about 1-2 hours away.  Just for lack of people, rural areas can cut both ways for both landlords and tenants.  It's hard for tenants to find good housing and it's hard for LLs to find tenants.  So, yes, vacancy rates can be longer.  But, on the plus side, once a tenant moves in they usually stay long term...because choices are limited for them also.

    The large city near you, even its surrounding suburbs, might be a good option.  It just depends on how HCOL it is.  Ironically, LCOL or MCOL are generally better areas for real estate investing.  Yes, the rents are lower than a HCOL, but the prices of real estate are even more substantially lower.

    It also doesn't take much time to manage, except when you are doing showings.  My strategy is to make good quality repairs and improvements the first time.  Fix it "right" instead of fix it for "right now".  I've had a variety of tenants living right next door to me for the last five years.  I'll go months and never hear from them, other than to collect the rent check, unless we happen to be hanging out on the porch or back yard at the same time.  It's pretty sweet.

    You are correct.  If we were to buy rental properties, we would likely buy something cheap that needs a ton of renovation, fix it up with better finishes, and rent it to the smaller high end market.  It is very hard for people to find good places to rent and good landlords. It's why H and I decided to buy instead of rent.  The amount of slumloards in our area, is large.  However, there are a few nice properties owned buy great people and those never become vacant because the tenants stay for 10+ years.  So we're really playing with the idea of going in that direction. 

    TTC since 1/13  DX:PCOS 5/13 (long, anovulatory cycles)
    Clomid 50mg 9/13 = BFP! EDD 6/7/14 M/C 5w6d Found 11/4/13
    1/14 PCOS / Gluten Free Diet to hopefully regulate my system. 
    Chemical Pregnancy 03/14
    Surprise BFP 6/14, Beta #1: 126 Beta #2: 340  Stick baby, stick! EDD 2/17/15
    Riley Elaine born 2/16/15

    TTC 2.0   6/15 
    Chemical Pregnancy 9/15 
    Chemical Pregnancy 6/16
    BFP 9/16  EDD 6/3/17
    Beta #1: 145 Beta #2: 376 Beta #3: 2,225 Beta #4: 4,548
    www.5yearstonever.blogspot.com 
                        Image and video hosting by TinyPic

  • Congrats!  I am super impressed that you were able to purchase a property for $38K that rents for $1200/month!  No way I could ever find that here!

    H and I do want to get into some rental investments at some point--I told him I'd like seriously start looking once I reach my 40's (so about six years from now).

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