How we live in a $300K+ home for only $600/month...
So I became obsessed with rental producing properties...
When we were looking for a long term home for our family in 2010, I stubbornly insisted that we focus on duplexes or single family homes with accessory apartments.
Single families with accessories was specifically what I wanted to target because of the lending programs that allow only 5% down as opposed to 20-25% down.
We found this home in Essex Junction. It was in foreclosure and needed a little bit of work. So my handy husband and I bought it up. Made small improvements like paint, added a huge deck for the apartment over the garage and fixed the small issues that the city had with the property, like removing a strip of pavement that was 1' too wide. (Picky I know, but we did what we had to in order to be compliant.)
We initially got a loan for 30 years, then refinanced it to a 20 year loan when the rates were really low in 2012. Currently our PITI (principal, interest, taxes and insurance payment) totals just under $1,800/month. Our apartment over the garage rents for $1,200.
So we 'are on the hook' for $600/month plus our own utilities...
And even better, we believe that if we ever wanted to rent out our side of the house, the property could cash flow positive about $1,000/month.
Lastly, because we got this at a great price and our improvements also increased the value, we were able to get a HELOC (home equity line of credit) against the home for $44K which was enough to fund our next multi family investment in Burlington.
Not so shabby. How could a situation like this change your life?