I did it! I bought my first investment property! :D

[Julia Rockwell]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Durham.

Purchase price: $185,000
Cash invested: $3,000

This is a buy & hold "house hack" that I will be living in while also renting out some of the rooms to students/AirBnB guests. My aim was to purchase something that would cash flow, while also appreciate long term (or at the very least sell for its' purchase price) and allow me to live rent free so I can allocate my savings from living rent-free towards saving for a second investment property. On paper it is not the best deal since it doesn't meet the 2% rule (it shakes out to around 0.8%) but since I'm going to be living in it, it's worth it to me because it's a lovely safe location within walking distance to downtown. I bought it off MLS and while I might've overpaid slightly, I'm ok with that because there's no way I would be able to afford a place like this if I shopped on MLS. Location also is as important to me as cashflow, since I'm looking at this from a hospitality perspective and it's walking distance to a well attended school. The cash invested price is a rough estimate of what I spent on closing costs/inspections, and the most comparable comp to this property sold for $262k. I still need to account for the bathroom/kitchen remodel costs, and will update the investment amount once I have completed these tasks and have an idea of the true numbers. I ended up with this instead of a flipper because the profit margin is very slim and it's the type of property that really only makes financial sense if you plan on living in it to eliminate your rent. The monthly cashflow is based on projections/current market analysis and is very conservative.

[Damaso Bautista]

@Julia Rockwell

The reason why he is asking is because you said you only invested $3000.  In actuality you invested $18,500 (10% down) and $3000 (closing costs&inspections).  Your actual investment which is money spent to acquire the property is $21,500.

He wanted to know if you had a special deal where you only invested $3000 to get through the purchase process.

In my original reply I was wondering how you got into a $185,000 house including closing costs and inspections for only $3000.

Anyway congrats on your first investment!!!