Salt Lake City Investor's recap of his first year.
Well this post has been a long time in the making. In late 2010 when i was 20 I had a neighbor by the name of @douglaslarson approach me with an opportunity to make some extra money fixing up a house or two, I took the opportunity and my eyes were opened to the world of real estate as i worked along the side of Doug I realized that I really liked this rehabbing stuff! Two years later as i was talking with Doug he mentioned that I read a few books, among them was the millionaire next door and rich dad poor dad. This started a great mentor ship with a great guy.
A few months later I got a job offer to become a loan officer for a local credit union. I worked there for about a year and i began to realize that the only part i liked about my job was analyzing properties! I consulted with my wife of one year and we decided that i should become a realtor. Soon after passing my test, we found a foreclosed town home that we thought was a great deal, purchased it, renovated it and moved in. (All with the intention of moving out and turning it into a rental in 1-2 years.)
I joined a real estate team, and my baptism by fire began. This was one year ago. Since then, I have done 35 transactions as a realtor. I mainly work with investors, and it has been a great experience! I actually prefer working with investors as opposed to owner occupants!
As far as our personal deals go, we purchased our townhouse for 160K put 4K materials and lots of sweat equity into it, and it is worth about 185K now. The similar units are renting for $1300-$1400 in our complex. We also bought another rental property on a 10 yr seller finance four months ago! Purchase price was 121,250 with 5,000 down and about 5,000 in repairs. It is currently rented to my painter for $1000 a month (he offered to paint the exterior for a discount of $250/mo for 1 yr) and will rent for $1250 after he buys a house in a year.
Six weeks ago, we also bought a property at the courthouse steps, and brought a credit partner in. 327K purchase, we funded the repairs of 40K, and put it on the market at 425K and got multiple offers the first weekend. We should Net 18-21K on our first flip!
So with that being said, my first year as a real estate investor hasn't been too shabby. I just turned 25 last week and as for the future, we are planning on buying a larger home that we can raise our kids in (first is on the way this sept 21st) and renting out our live in rehab. In five years i would like to have a total of five properties all being paid on 15 yr notes.
All in all, I am very grateful for a great relationship with Doug and for a wife that supports me in all these crazy ideas i have! I am also grateful for this website and the podcasts!
Jordy Clark.