I wanted to share the story of my very first deal. It's not the best deal ever, but I had to start somewhere after 6 months learning the theory (a lot thanks to BiggerPockets's mantra of taking action and learning by doing).

As a background, I'm Portuguese and am living and working in Ireland for the past 6 years. Working in the tech industry, I was able to save enough money (initially planned to buy a home for myself, but after reading Rich Dad Poor Dad the goal obviously changed) for my first investment.

After analyzing the potential markets to invest (Ireland, UK, and Portugal), I came to the conclusion that Portugal was the best choice. Not only because I had the connections and market knowledge, but also because it's a much cheaper market.

So I went ahead and connected with a local investor through online search (unfortunately there are not many Portuguese in BiggerPockets). He was investing in a little town called Covilhã, and told me all about the region. It is one of the best regions to invest in buy-and-hold due to it's low acquisition costs and relatively high rents (large University and housing shortage).

After weeks working on the relationship, we agreed that he would wholesale me some deals. Adding to this, he was working with a property management company that leases properties for long term, and then rents out to students. This was the perfect combination for someone investing from abroad.

So the first deal was a newly refurbished 2 studio apartment building, right next to the local University. I bought it all cash, and below you'll see the details:

List Price: $60,000

Purchase Price: $51,500

Wholesale fee: $4,000

Closing costs: $1,083

Gross Rent/Month: $300

Lease term: 10 years

CoC Return: 6.4%

Again, not the most attractive numbers, but the tradeoff is that the property management company will deal with tenants and maintenance, and I'll have constant flow of cash for the next 10 years. The only risk is if the company goes bankrupt (which in case I would then start self-managing), and the only costs I'll have to cover are potential structural damages (which would most likely be covered by insurance).

Another plus side of having invested all cash, is that I will have potential access to lines of credit both for home equity (up to 70% of home equity), AND for future guaranteed rents (up to 60% of total 10 year rent roll).

Already planning on the next property using the same strategy, but this time with traditional financing (looking for 100% mortgage). Will update you guys soon!

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts, and if you ever structured deals in a similar way.

Cheers!

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