2017 - The year I started investing in Real Estate! My First Deal

2017 - The year I started investing in Real Estate! My First Deal

Real Estate Agent · Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2017 · 48 posts · 35 votes

Hello everyone!

I wanted to share my success stories from 2017! 

I started reading up on REI in June of 2017. I got a new job in sales and moved to a new area. I had zero experience with real estate other than owning my first and now second primary residence.

Like many, I stumbled upon the BP podcast and began listening to them ALL! I joined local groups on Facebook and attended a few meetups. After learning the lingo and understanding calculations I started searching for leads. I sent out probably 15 offers before I finally got one accepted! 

It is a duplex in Milwaukee Wi. I partnered with @Michael Henry who has taught me a great deal about REI in a very short period of time!

2 BR 1 BA Upper

2 BR 1 BA Lower

The initial financing was structured as follows:

Purchase Price $65,000. 

Down Payment $20,000. 

Seller financed $45,000. 0% interest for 3 months. 

The upper and lower had been recently remodeled and with comps in the area we figured the value to be roughly $80,000. 

I rented out the upper for $775 and the lower for $750. 

30 days after closing I refinanced the property with a local credit union and the appraised value came in at $75,000! 

I got a nice big check back at closing! I now understand why BRRRR is such a great strategy!

It now cash flows roughly $620 per month and I am very happy with it so far! 

That property got me super excited and I immediately began looking for my next one. After just a month or so I came across my second deal...I will post that in a separate post. 

I want to thank BP for being the place to go when I have questions. This is a great community! Thanks to everyone who contributes to it! 

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Nashville, TN · Member since 2017 · 82 posts · 22 votes
8y

@Alex Witte Great Story Alex, what made you go with seller financing for the $45,000 rather than going through the bank initially?

Here is a blog post about Neighborhood classes, that I found helpful when learning about it.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2015/12/0...

Hope this helps!

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  • Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2016 · 4 posts · 0 votes
    8y

    Congratulations man. Keep up the good work.

  • Saint Cloud, MN · Member since 2017 · 90 posts · 70 votes
    8y

    Awesome!

  • El Cerrito, CA · Member since 2015 · 257 posts · 129 votes
    8y

    Nice work @Alex Witte. What kind of neighborhood is your fist deal in? 

  • Real Estate Agent · Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2017 · 48 posts · 35 votes
    8y
    Originally posted by @Doug Woodville:

    Nice work @Alex Witte. What kind of neighborhood is your fist deal in? 

    I actually need to learn more about ratings of neighborhoods. I believe that this is a B neighborhood, but I'm not 100% sure. Do you have a link(or a BP Podcast Episode) where they explain ratings? Is there like a neighborhood rating website?

    I guess I will say this is a neighborhood where you could potentially leave your doors unlocked. Elementary, middle, and high schools all rate 6 or better. 

    Thanks everyone else for the words of encouragement!

  • Nashville, TN · Member since 2017 · 82 posts · 22 votes
    8y

    @Alex Witte Great Story Alex, what made you go with seller financing for the $45,000 rather than going through the bank initially?

    Here is a blog post about Neighborhood classes, that I found helpful when learning about it.

    https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2015/12/0...

    Hope this helps!

  • Real Estate Agent · Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2017 · 48 posts · 35 votes
    8y
    Originally posted by @Dennis L Lewis Jr:

    @Alex Witte Great Story Alex, what made you go with seller financing for the $45,000 rather than going through the bank initially?

    Here is a blog post about Neighborhood classes, that I found helpful when learning about it.

    https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2015/12/0...

    Hope this helps!

     Thanks Dennis for the link!

    No real reason, I just figured it would be easier to get ownership of the property first and then refinance. 

    In hindsight I probably could have just approached a bank initially and accomplished the same thing. 

  • El Cerrito, CA · Member since 2015 · 257 posts · 129 votes
    8y

    @Alex Witte Unfortunately I do not have any links on how a neighborhood is rated. If I find something I'll try to report back. 

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