First deal, double value in five years, remote investment

[Albert D.]

I call it luck and perfect timing. It was my first investment in RE. Back in 2011, pretty much the bottom of RE market, we bought a condo in Seattle. Never set our feet to it, bought through a long-time friend who lives there. We rented it for five years with slightly positive cash flow. This year, HOA passed a special assessment in huge amount. I decided to sell it and found out by surprise - the value doubled! Guess that's the icing on the cream people were talking about.

Lessons learned:

Timing is everything.  You buy it right, the rest will follow.

Trusted local support is KEY: we never even physically saw the property over the entire investment period.  We have friends who we had great relationship with since high school to oversee rental and repair.  We have outstanding local realtor advised us on market, location and pricing.  Because of the trust, the cost of doing business is very low.  We don't have to second guess if the repair is really needed or if the re-model cost is reasonable.  We gave our local help high trust and high authority so we live care free.  :)

HOA/PM can be a pain in the neck, esp. for run-down property. We had high turnover of management companies for the entire campus of condo buildings. None really took care of the property, not even basic maintenance. We only found this out too late, when our roof started leaking! Special assessment is expensive to get things in order. Even if I voted against, I was dragged along as it passed a certain threshold. Professional level of PMs can vary. Good luck to get a good one.

Learned a lot from BP.  Just wanted to give something back by sharing my first investment.  More to come...stay tuned.  :)