Investment Info:

Condo buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $180,000

This property I purchase to live when I moved from NYC to Charlotte. I went from living in 250 sq ft, to 800 sq ft and thought I was the richest man in Babylon. I lived in the property for almost 3 years and moved in with my pregnant GF. I tried to AirBnB the property, but it coincided with the Covid pandemic, so it went not where. Eventually I started getting people to rent it and then I had two tenants who wanted to continue their stay. So, I turned it into a traditional rental.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Originally this was my primary residence. I loved the interiors of this condo but it wasn't in the best location. Its in the middle of uptown Charlotte, but was right by an overpass. I kicked myself when I was about 6 months into living there because my car was broken into a couple times. Eventually, I moved and turned it into a STR, but due to Covid it was quickly turned into a traditional rental.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

I found this through the MLS and negotiated through my broker.

How did you finance this deal?

I bought this property with traditional financing with 10% down. I had to purchase the property as a second home because I bought it before moving to Charlotte. I did this because I was leaving my W2 and did not know how to finance it otherwise.

How did you add value to the deal?

Not a lot of value add, but if I had to choose something it was switching from a STR to a traditional rental and going from collecting zero dollars in rent to collecting 1500.

What was the outcome?

I eventually put a tenant in place who was a hold over from AirBnB.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Everything worked out on this property and it has appreciated about 50K over 4 years, as well as 4 years of principle pay down and depreciation. So, everything works out in the end, and if it hasn't worked out then its not the end.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Just my broker.