New Investor in Cincinnati

[Thomas Barrick]

Hey guys,

Long time follower, first post...my name is Tom Barrick and I bought my first property in June of this year in Cincinnati, OH. I purchased a duplex (Unit 1: 3+br 1 ba Unit 2: 1 br 1ba) and I am house hacking living in the 1br unit and renting out the larger/higher rent unit to a few buddies. I have made some mistakes along the way but I have definitely learned from them. I am currently saving to purchase another 2-4 unit property within a year.

Looking to connect with other local investors!

[Thomas Barrick]

Tiara Stewart-Cannon thanks for the post and definitely wish you the best. A bit of my story. I purchased the duplex using an owner occupied FHA loan 3.5% down. In negotiating with the seller, I was able to have the seller pay closing costs but in return, I paid a bit more for the house. I did this because I wanted to have significant cash reserves for early repairs if something went wrong.

At closing, both units were rented with 2 months remaining on the leases. Lucky enough, the tenants were great but I did make one mistake. The tenants had a lot of their belongings in the basement and I did not realize some of the stuff was the previous owners. Therefore, when the tenants moved out, I was stuck with a bunch of old paint, wood scraps and other junk.

The other mistake I have made was during the inspection/closing process. In the post inspection agreement, the seller agreed to purchase a home warranty. About a month after closing, I had an issue with one of the AC units. I called the home warranty company and I found out a home warranty was never purchased. I (or my realtor) did not do the due diligence to ensure a home warranty was purchased and therefore I had to pay the repair out of pocket.

Everything else has gone well so far, feel free to reach out with any specific questions!

--Tom