To buy or not to buy? (First deal cold feet)

[Yuriy Kaunzinger]

Hi everyone! Long time member, semi-first time poster. Here’s my situation: I was bitten by the real estate bug in my senior year of college (2-ish years ago) after reading Rich Dad Poor Dad. After a long time of reading, researching, and relocating (NYC -> Delaware), I’m one week out from closing on my first deal. The deal is a short sale, in a seemingly nice neighborhood, exactly one mile from The University of Delaware. My plan is to do a live in flip (Purchase price $172K, Reno $14K), and then rent out rooms to friends, roommates, etc. the property is basically move in ready, but the renovation (which would be almost all DIY) is an attempt to have the property appraise near top of market at $240K. All in all everything seems good, and going according to plan. The numbers work, nothing’s holding me back, but I keep feeling increasingly nervous. I’m still fairly young (25), and nobody else my age that I know is even talking about purchasing property yet. Does anyone have any feedback on when they purchased their first deal? Does everyone get these jitters around this time, or is it just me?

[James Masotti]

Originally posted by @Yuriy Kaunzinger:

Hi everyone!

Long time member, semi-first time poster. Here’s my situation: I was bitten by the real estate bug in my senior year of college (2-ish years ago) after reading Rich Dad Poor Dad. After a long time of reading, researching, and relocating (NYC -> Delaware), I’m one week out from closing on my first deal.

The deal is a short sale, in a seemingly nice neighborhood, exactly one mile from The University of Delaware. My plan is to do a live in flip (Purchase price $172K, Reno $14K), and then rent out rooms to friends, roommates, etc. the property is basically move in ready, but the renovation (which would be almost all DIY) is an attempt to have the property appraise near top of market at $240K.

All in all everything seems good, and going according to plan. The numbers work, nothing’s holding me back, but I keep feeling increasingly nervous. I’m still fairly young (25), and nobody else my age that I know is even talking about purchasing property yet. Does anyone have any feedback on when they purchased their first deal? Does everyone get these jitters around this time, or is it just me?

 I purchased my first house at 23 in Wilmington, Delaware. It was a foreclosure and needed what I considered a ton of work at the time (~35k once it was all done). I redefined what move in ready was with this house as it had a roof, running water (including the water leaking from the dining room ceiling), and heat (the central air was broken for two years before I fixed it). I bribed my wife (at the time my girlfriend) and friends, with beer and pizza,  to come visit me at the house to clean and paint and do the light construction work. 

Point being...yes you can buy a house that young. Who cares what your friends and other people your age are doing? Is this the best deal ever? Probably not. Will you go bankrupt? Probably not. Will you learn a lot? Absolutely!