First Purchase Ever

[Zane Cress]

Investment Info:

Condo buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $66,000
Cash invested: $5,000

My first purchase was this condo. 2 bed 2.5 bath 15 minutes from the UGA campus. Mortgage was $348. I started doing AirBnb for college football weekends and was able to pay my whole mortgage for the year with 10 nights rented and avoided paying taxes by keeping my rental under 14 nights/year. I will hold this property for decades.

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

I was moving back to Athens from Tampa, FL and didn't want to rent anymore. I was ready to buy my own place.

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

I used a local agent and she found this spot after looking at 10 other properties that didn't work for me. I did try to negotiate down a few thousand dollars but the sellers wouldn't budge, which was fine because the place was still incredibly cheap.

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional loan, 30 years, 10% down with a local lender under the Prime lending umbrella.

How did you add value to the deal?

New floors, paint, popcorn ceiling scrape, new countertops.

What was the outcome?

Still have the property and it cash flows heavily.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Learned so much about owning property and small rehab projects in this place. It gave me the RE bug.

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

I still use the same loan officer that I used for this first property and I recommend everyone to her. Most recently she funded my new primary residence.