Our first home became our first rental property

[Ben Wallis]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Flower Mound.

Purchase price: $149,500

Our first home, that became our first rental property. We lived here for 5 years, and when it came time to move were able to keep the property and have it become our first rental house. Through having some great tenants the first 2 years the house has been incredibly maintained. Properties in our area are appreciating like crazy, and we're looking forward to using the equity in this home for future rental properties.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

We were fortunate to be able to keep this property when we were looking for our 2nd house. It had been our plan all along to hold onto it, and thankfully we were able to do so.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

By the grace of God :-) My wife was just looking online and we found this house, and a great real estate agent. Neither of us were considering Flower Mound (or had heard of it). The property was owned at the time by an investor who was out of state, and did a very poor job marketing the house. Only a few pictures, not well done, etc.

How did you finance this deal?

FHA first time home buyers loan. 3.5% down

How did you add value to the deal?

Over the years we put a ton of sweat into the house. Sprinkler system, backyard grass, new fence, redone counter-tops, stained the cabinets, hardware, etc.

What was the outcome?

A property that we've been able to pay off that generates great cash flow each month (that includes a property manager as well)

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Wish I would have been able to buy the other houses in the neighborhood that werefor sale at the time :-)

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Yes, a great real estate agent (Goodman Group) here in the North Texas area. Jonn and Alexa Goodman are outstanding at finding properties that fit our needs.