My First House Purchase
How did I get so hooked on Real Estate? I got CRAZY LUCKY on first deal!!! Here's the story.
I was looking for a place to rent New York - working "upstate" in Ossining. My mega smart uncle drove a cab while studying at Columbia University... told me to drive neighborhoods I liked, go to the building and ask for the superintendent. Exactly what I did. No joke... first place I went to - I spoke to the super & nothing was for rent but there was a place for sale!?! $125K! I was 25 and broke but making $50K so thought I'd try. The bank would only loan me up to $85K. I told the owner to my shock they went for it! I really don't know why. It was a co-op building in the very very north of Manhattan, area called Inwood. This owner owned many properties in that building... maybe just needed some cash? No idea. This was 2001.
Called my pop for help with the down payment. Nope. I ended up getting a loan from my uncle for 7%. That was it. It took a few months for the cash from my uncle to "cure" in my bank and I bought it. A large 1 bedroom. I sectioned off the living and rented it out for $500 a month... they pretty much paid the mortgage leaving me with the "HOA".
I held it for 3 years. About 2 years later, I kept hearing stories of other places like mine selling for ridiculous amounts. In 2003 I heard in the elevator "$200K? What? That place is the same layout as mine!" I didn't believe it. It just kept going like that. "They sold for $250K?" Wow! It was so far north, I really wanted to live in downtown Manhattan. I finally decided to sell. Well, I tried renting first but it's really tough with a CO-OP. The CO-OP board has to approve the renters! There's a massive packet of info... serious pain. I was also advertising the place as a FSBO for like $250 or $275K. Serious as a heart attack. I never got an offer for purchase... the rentals didn't work for 9 months.
I finally hired a professional broker. She did an open house in 2004. The market was just insane. Everything got so expensive in downtown Manhattan so people started moving further north...into areas like Inwood!!! It had a double up impact. First b/c the market was going way up... then b/c the high market drove buyers to my neighborhood. Sick. The broker got a bunch offers which led to a bidding war. The place ended up selling for $340K!! From $85K to $340K in 3 years (2001 to 2004). Changed my life and not surprisingly I've been very interested in real estate ever since.