Updated almost 11 years ago on . Most recent reply
Your Best Deal Ever
I was listening to another podcast, which i won't name and one of them asks his guests about their best real estate deal. Mine was my first. I moved to DC in 2000 and got a job at a law firm and looked at buying a condo. At the time, DC had a first time homebuyer tax credit of up to $7K. It varied by income and disappeared completely if you made more than 80k/year. Since I started working in September (prior to that I was a student with $0 income) I would qualify for the full amount that year, and nothing the following year. So I looked at tons of places and bought a studio for $70k. I closed a few days before the end of year, right under the wire.
So I put 10% down. Which is $7k, but I got it back a few months later because of the tax credit, so it was like doing a nothing down deal. So 70k-7k means my cost basis was 63k.
By pure luck, this was the beginning of the housing bubble in DC. I sold it 3 years later for $210k. AND since it was my primary residence, all the appreciation was tax free. I think I spent about $5k to retile the bathroom, but nothing else.
What about your best real estate investment ever?
Most Popular Reply
First deal was the best...
Overpaid, went way over budget, did a horrible rehab, had to lease-purchase it for 2.5 years, then had to do another rehab and ultimately make a $3K profit after about 3 years with $100K of my own cash invested the whole time.
The reason it was my best deal is that I learned enough that the next 100+ projects were easier, faster, less stressful and more profitable...