First Rental Property

Hey All, My first post here about buying a rental property. I have to really thank my mom for getting me into this type of investment as I never really considered this as an option living in Los Angeles. When I was first introduced to the concept of real estate investing I was really scared to move forward with the step. As an engineer by training, I did a lot of homework which was key to pushing me into buying this property which brings me to  the most important lesson I learned. DO YOUR HOMEWORK. By spending time reading on this blog I was able to build my own excel analysis of the home with estimated maintenance costs/taxes/etc and rental income. I learned all the rules of thumb but most importantly I learned how research the future outlook of a city. Using sites like city-data I am able to see the slight trends in growing population, population density, etc. to better inform myself of the future market for my property.  In addition since I was going to live in this property but wanted it for investment purposes I learned how to remove my emotion from the purchasing decision. Doing all this homework on the property really boosted my confidence level with purchasing the property. The second lesson I learned was to really find a good real estate agent who knows the local process extremely well. My real estate agent was 23 years old and had closed 6 million dollar properties in the last year alone. He was able to walk me through every piece of the process and show me every nook and cranny nuisance that I was looking for during appraisal and inspection process as well as walk me through every line of every disclosure. I know few agents who will read through every line of small print with you to ensure you are understanding what you are buying. 

I have now had my rental property for 2 years now and learning the details of property management. My next post will be about what I have learned about the process of getting a good tenant. I would love to chat with y'all about your first rental property.

Thanks,

Andy