Investment Info:

Condo buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $644,000
Cash invested: $75,000

In 2008, my wife and I purchased our first home, a 1 bedroom 1 bathoom condo. In 2014, shortly before the birth of our first child, we purchased the abutting unit, and we created a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom condo in the heart of Logan Circle DC. We lived there as our primary home until this year, but we've decided to rent this home, a rarity in the city, and move to the suburbs.

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

The square footage and number of bedrooms are rare in downtown DC. Once my son was of age, we planned on moving to the suburbs to gain access to the school districts while monitizing our condo.

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

The same person owned both condos. After we purchased the initial condo, we took a shot at asking the owner if he'd be willing to sell the second condo a few years later. He said yes; we got lucky.

How did you finance this deal?

We used a traditional mortgage.

How did you add value to the deal?

We combined two one bedrooms to create three bedrooms and two bathrooms.

What was the outcome?

This will be our first rental property in the DMV (DC-Maryland-Virginia) area.