I just completed my first deal after years and years of taking no action.  It's not a homerun, but it's my first and I'll take it. 

I bought a REO from the MLS with a partner. We were originally looking at cheaper condos. The deal was that he was going to put up the money and I was going to get the mortgage in my name and do all of the work. I ended up finding this house on the MLS and after watching the price drop $15k I convinced him we should go for it. At a purchase price of $130k it was more of a down payment that he was comfortable putting up for the first property. So, I decided that I liked it enough to put some money in the deal as well.

Some of the repairs we made:

Ripped out nasty carpet and installed new laminate

Ripped out sheet vinyl and installed new ceramic tile

New toilets and hardware in bathrooms

Installed new privacy fence where needed

Painted entire interior

Replaced all baseboards

Cleaned up flower beds and put pine straw in

Cut  down tree in back yard that was damaging the old fence

Had house and all concrete soft washed

Added CO monitors

Lots and lots of cleaning...  The house was disgusting

We got plenty of calls and on-line inquiries.  It took less than a week to find tenants.  They ended up coming from Trulia, which came from posting it on Zillow.

Here are the numbers:

Purchase Price:                 $129,000

Down Payment:                $25,800 (20%)

Prepaid/Closing Costs:    $5,215

Renovations:                     $10,845

Total:                                   $145,060

Monthly rent:                    $1,500

ARV: $158,500

Things I've learned on this one:

I probably could have gotten the bank down a little more on purchase price.  I wanted the deal so bad that I didn't want to chance haggling with them too much and losing it.  Next time I need to be willing to walk away.

I need to pay a little closer attention when inspecting the house prior to purchase.  I didn't plan on replacing baseboard, painting the ceiling, removing the tree, or removing the vinyl floors initially.

I absolutely DO NOT want to do work ourselves again.  For a month I was at that house every single day off from my regular job, and lots of evenings after work.  Next time I will plan on having contractors do all work.  

Now I'm ready to start learning to manage the rental and will be looking for the next house.  My partner and I are now leaning more toward a flip instead of a rental. We think maybe we should split the money made on a flip and do our own buy and hold investing, instead of committing to 30 years of payments together.

Here are some pics of the house when we bought it.

And after: