My future sucess story, I could not wait :)
I come to BP for everything. I love this site and the people here have made it even better. I want to share, maybe not success, but my experience starting out in real estate investing.I do not have a blog so felt this was an appropriate spot.
I have always wanted to invest in real estate. I found this site by accident, and listened to the early podcasts. I got engaged and decided to move closer to both our families soon after. I sold my nice house (I really liked it), quit my job, and moved back across the country from the northwest to the northeast. I started a new job, and knew this was my opportunity to begin my real estate venture. I searched for investment property while I lived at a hotel for a month and a half and found a duplex FSBO. I tracked the owners down and got it under contract for 50K. I had to leave for 4 months so we closed while I was away.
The house is old and small, but not horrible. It needed everything possible, and with my background in construction I thought manageable. A few days after closing I called the oil and electric company and had the utilities put in my name. I couldn't wait to get back. Finally my own duplex (I wanted bigger but could not find one).
I returned and got right to work. The old boiler was removed, floors ripped up, drywall, and electrical. The bottom unit is where I wanted to live and during my two week vacation installed hot water heater, plumbed, rewired, flooring, paint and electric baseboard heaters. During this we went 3 days without water, slept on the subfloor, and we had a hot fall (for which I was grateful for).
We got the bottom apartment looking decent after 2 weeks and I went back to work.After and before work I would finish the bottom apartment or work on the upstairs replacing and repairing.My plan was to take the equity we put in and use it to purchase additional properties.Unbeknownst to me one fateful day the oil company delivered oil to the house, to a boiler that was outside, a tank that was not hooked up, and a homeowner that didn't want or order it.100 Gallons of fuel oil later and we were dealing with the DEC and contamination cleanup.The appraiser, that I was getting from the bank to explore a HELOC, came the same day as the oil spill and still appraised the house during the chaos of the morning and afternoon.
The bank would not lend on the house due to the spill (which we are still cleaning up) but the appraiser did set the value at 104K.We keep dealing with the cleanup, and have been for months, and it seems to be coming along.I decided to empty my retirement in order to purchase another property while we wait for the cleanup to be finished.
I found a great property from fannie mae and got it under contract for 38K.The selling realtor is frustrating at best to deal with.We are at the inspection part and I guess I am responsible for turning on utilities and making any repairs necessary to close as it is an “as is” property.Not a huge deal right now, and will know more, and expenses, when I go this weekend.
Throughout all this, over the course of about 6 months I have looked at as many properties that I could.I have made offers like crazy, and have had a multitude of deals fall through.I say probably for the best, and has been a great learning experience.I have tried owner financing deals, half owner financing half conventional, commercial apartment buildings.Pretty much anything that seems like it would be a good deal I have gone after.I have wrote letters, contacted absentee owners, tracked down properties in distress, MLS listings and pretty much anything else besides sending out cold letters.
In summery I have a property I live in that I cannot touch the equity in until the oil contamination is cleaned up, a lot of failed attempts to purchase more property, and a house under contract that I may, probably have to, put some money in in order to close.I have felt more uncomfortable doing real estate than anything else and I love it.It has been great! I cannot wait to see what the future holds.
I am sure there are people out there wanting to start investing in real estate.I am just like you. We do not have a lot of money and definitely are pinching pennies all the time.We have a wedding coming up and closing on a house at the same time, as well as dealing with our current house’s issues.Some things may seem insurmountable but they are not, it is uncomfortable and you may go to bed worrying but most of the time I am excited.I am excited about expanding my future and the future of those around me.I feel like I have more control over where my life is heading and the financial stability for the future.I always felt uneasy throwing money in a distant account waiting until the twilight years of my life to get at it.
I also want to add that I would not be where I am without the help from a great realtor and investor, and who I consider a friend.She was recommended to me by a bank when I first moved here and has been a tremendous mentor and friend.I also have a great bank, and loan officer who is so amazing and goes the extra mile every time.Finding these people to help you is not hard, and definitely worth the time.They make all the difference in failure and success.
I look forward to the future and what can be accomplished.There are so many opportunities and I hope anyone waiting to start investing will jump on them.I do not even consider myself an investor because I do not have very much experience but it is a fantastic experience.
It seems like a whirlwind at times.We have rented our top apartment in the duplex just a few weeks ago.Right now my goals are small but achievable. We put equity in the duplex and hope to be able to get that out this year, and want the same for the property we are trying to close on.We hope to buy a single family home for ourselves and another investment property this year.We are unsure if we can reach these goals in a year, but why not try.
I hope you took some good things from my story, and anyone starting out, or wanting to.I know this was a lot of rambling, but I appreciate you taking the time to read, and hopefully took something away from it.