Smallest amount of $$$ you have ever invested with

Buying & Selling Real Estate
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Smallest amount of $$$ you have ever invested with

Rick McCray
Ellicott City, MD · Member since 2013 · 46 posts · 5 votes

What is the smallest amount you have put into a deal that turned a profit? If you have a "zero down" answer then I want your "zero down" story. Any amount of profit is fine, as long as it was more than you originally put in.

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Account Closed
Investor · Central Valley, CA · Member since 2012 · 6k+ posts · 3k+ votes
12y

Not sure what qualifies as "investing with". I can easily buy and control properties (or notes) with little or no down, but then there other costs, sometime significant, especially for the big profits.

But here's a couple of straight up examples of very little all in costs.

Contracted to buy property for $11K and put $100 into escrow as earnest money. A landlord buyer wanted it, so they gave me a check for $5K and I assigned the contract. They closed on the contract. I didn't do anything except show the property once. I truly had no other out of pocket costs on that one.

Bought a piece of vacant land for $2K. There were past due taxes and closing costs, so I was all in at $6K. Sold it for $55K. I saw the property once, after I bought it, the same day I put a sign on it. The phone rang off the hook on the drive home and I went into the contract the next day. BTW I got double flipped on that one. My buyer sold it for 95K right after closing. My bad for not knowing the value or finding a broader range of buyers.

Bought a non performing note for $5K, property had been abandoned by the borrowers and had squatters living in it. Foreclosed 4 months later and a buyer bought it at trustee's sale for $37K+. Net was just under $34K. Never went in that property, drove by it twice.

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  • Don KonipolBusiness Member
    Investor · The Woodlands TX / Avon, CT · Member since 2009 · 6k+ posts · 10k+ votes
    12y

    I have never wanted to pay the high price (interest, points, fees, higher price of purchase, or sharing equity) necessary to accomplish a "nothing down" deal. So I utilize the opposite approach; to maximize profitability I use cash and a quick close as an incentive for the lowest price possible.

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  • Rick McCray
    OP
    Ellicott City, MD · Member since 2013 · 46 posts · 5 votes
    12y

    Can you give me an example Don? With numbers?

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  • Bill Gulley
    Investor, Entrepreneur, Educator · Springfield, MO · Member since 2009 · 21k+ posts · 12k+ votes
    12y

    Ha, with residential properties, zero down or in the deal of my money? That's about three books worth!

    Assumptions, refinancing, partnership, co-signing for partnerships, seller financed structures, backing contractors, assuming installment sales by guaranteeing payments...the borrower fails, I get the place by a deed in lieu, buying notes with a "double closing", the list goes on.

    One of my best was a commercial deal, about 120% seller financing with the seller providing cash to fund the non-profit to develop the project, 850K or so and paying me to put it all together. Fun!

    There are no secrets in RE, it's all been done before by someone! :)

    1Reply
  • Chris Adams
    Contractor · Valparaiso , IN · Member since 2013 · 604 posts · 327 votes
    12y
    I own 4 SFRs that cash flow great and I have $0 invested, and I have pulled out up cash from from each home when refinancing them. Here is my model http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/100685-here-is-how-i-do-it-please-critique
    1Reply
  • Account Closed
    Investor · Central Valley, CA · Member since 2012 · 6k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    12y

    Not sure what qualifies as "investing with". I can easily buy and control properties (or notes) with little or no down, but then there other costs, sometime significant, especially for the big profits.

    But here's a couple of straight up examples of very little all in costs.

    Contracted to buy property for $11K and put $100 into escrow as earnest money. A landlord buyer wanted it, so they gave me a check for $5K and I assigned the contract. They closed on the contract. I didn't do anything except show the property once. I truly had no other out of pocket costs on that one.

    Bought a piece of vacant land for $2K. There were past due taxes and closing costs, so I was all in at $6K. Sold it for $55K. I saw the property once, after I bought it, the same day I put a sign on it. The phone rang off the hook on the drive home and I went into the contract the next day. BTW I got double flipped on that one. My buyer sold it for 95K right after closing. My bad for not knowing the value or finding a broader range of buyers.

    Bought a non performing note for $5K, property had been abandoned by the borrowers and had squatters living in it. Foreclosed 4 months later and a buyer bought it at trustee's sale for $37K+. Net was just under $34K. Never went in that property, drove by it twice.

    3Reply
  • J ScottPro Member
    Moderator
    Investor · Sarasota, FL · Member since 2008 · 17k+ posts · 17k+ votes
    12y

    These days, I buy most properties with 100% private money. So, while there are interest payments associated with the funds, it's generally none of my own.

    Podcast Guest on Show The Truth About Real Estate Investing in 2024 (What Investors NEED to Know)
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  • Timothy Riley
    Investor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2013 · 451 posts · 96 votes
    12y

    @Don Konipol was saying i pay cash for the lowest deal. Not sure what you would consider the best but:

    I spent $13950 - $2000 renovation. Moved out of a smaller home that i was paying $1200 a month for and owed $130,000. Making me Mortgage free.

    I did have a $21,000 purchase that i made $4,000 from the content which was equivalent to what it cost to rehab.

    Working on a deal now Totalling $15,500 with 2700 down $400 a month with no intrest. (quit claim from a family friend)

    2Reply
  • Timothy Riley
    Investor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2013 · 451 posts · 96 votes
    12y

    Sorry that last one should have been for a total of $14,500

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  • Christine GlasnerPro Member
    Investor · Winston Salem · Member since 2014 · 114 posts · 26 votes
    12y

    I bought a pair of duplexes with one tenant already in place for $18k using a private loan of $20k which also covered closing costs a small amount of repairs. I used Home Depot credit cards for the rest of repairs and my husband doing the work = $7k. All the units were rented within about 4 months and rents have paid for the loan and the credit credit cards payments still leaving positive cash flow. Rents total $1638/month, mtg - $415, cc pymts - $350, taxes 762/yr, insurance $186/qtrly.

    2Reply
  • Bryan L.
    Residential Real Estate Agent · Cookeville, TN · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 948 votes
    12y

    I once bought a house for $7000 and flipped it to another investor for $11,000 as-is. And I own a rental that I bought with a bank loan, and they even loaned me extra money for the rehab. I walked away from the closing with a check for $12,000 (or was it 16?).

    1Reply
  • Doug Smith
    Lender · Tampa, FL · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    12y

    This is kind of a fun question. I had to run over to pull the file to refresh my memory, but we had a note come across my desk for this very rural home that was falling down in the Midwest. The seller was a California Hedge Fund that had a BPO agent drive 60 miles from the nearest "big city" to do the BPO. Of course, the agent used urban "war zone" comps. I bought the note for $4200. You see...being an Illinois farm boy in my childhood, I knew enough about rural property to recognize that the house sat on several acres of prime farm land. The BPO agent didn't recognize that and focused on the little shack. Before buying the note, I found the borrower living two States away. Once I had the note, we called and got him to sign a Deed In Lieu of Foreclosure. I sold the property shortly after that for over $30,000 without touching it. Of course, we did quite a bit more due diligence than I am listing here, but it's a good story about paying attention to opportunities, doing your homework, and trusting what you know. Good luck deal hunting!

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