Last week I closed on my second rental property, a duplex in Canton MI!! It feels like a huge mile stone in my REI career as this is the first property I bought as a pure investment. –The first rental was a duplex where we lived in one side…

As some have probably experienced, the market is very hot in my area. I spent over a year making offers on properties with a realtor with no success. It was not until I tried direct mail marketing to where I finally landed a deal. (I will be honest, it was very awkward fielding phone calls at first but I’m glad I did!).

It was a no frills deal… The seller was an older couple that just wanted to “retire” from the land lording game (they were super nice and easy to work with). We negotiated a price that would work for both of us. Some items came up in the inspection in which the seller took care of before closing (about 5k in electrical and roofing issues). There are great tenants in place (Rent is a bit lower than market but they take good care of the place, do yard maintenance, have great payment records, etc.). –all in all, a good experience with no surprises!

It was a strange feeling after we closed… “so now what” my wife asked, “uhh nothing, we just pick up the checks on the first”

One thing I would share about my REI experiences so far is, don't be afraid to go outside the typical RE agent transactions. I did a lot of "Driving for Dollars" to build a mailing list and I am still sending mail. –I actually have another property in contract from this. (see my last post for details on this. It has structural issues so I might assign or walk away).. I definitely recommend starting sooner rather than later with direct mail. –if for nothing else, you get experience talking with sellers.