Oh God, my first investment? I'm embarrassed to talk about it.
Brand new spec home. 4k sq ft. $450k. Oh and I closed on it early January 2008. Needed $2700/mo to break even. I was lucky to get $1800. Had to ride that, almost instantly, underwater property for 6 years before I was able to dump it for $420k. I was SO happy to see it go.
That said, I learned a lot. Today I have 15 properties, all cash-flowing around $200/mo each. And I wouldn't be where I am if I hadn't bought that first turd of a property. I like to tell new investors that the are going to make mistakes ($$$), but they can't let that keep them from taking the plunge and investing in that first property. The mistakes, and the lessons learned, are part of the process.
Key lessons from first property... 1. Medium size 3/2's rent much better than giant 4k sf mini-mansions 2. The IRS does not allow non-real estate professionals to deduct rental losses from their W2 income. 3. Property managers, as a class, are usually horrible, but a good property manager is essential. (Keep looking!) 4. Rent, lower than what you want/need, is better than no rent. 5. Underwater properties aren't really a loss until you sell the property. 6. When you have a bad property, you can buy good properties to help make up the cash flow deficit.
@Jeremiah Goodpaster One of my townhomes has no HOA fee. And the other is $112/year. So basically nothing. The thing that attracted me to them is higher cashflow and lower capex.