All Forum Posts by: Stephen Ellis

Long story short, I bought a home that I loved (built in 2000) and in a great area to live in, so I paid a little over value $171,500 using VA loan at 3.5% Things changed and I moved and decided I'll rent it out, (it's near a large Army base) I do make a very small amount of cash flow on it for now but that's because I have the current tenant in at a deal. (Two year contract) In exchange for the deal he's good with house projects and can help me rehab a few things to it. (This will come in handy this summer when we do the back deck and exterior windows) The home has sloooooowly appreciated according to Zillow (I know that's not a good reference) it's above what I initially paid now and and owning for 3 years now I have paid off the VA funding fee and some of my principle. I'm sitting around $165,000 now, I have not had it re appraised since purchase. Also I have went through and replaced all Carpet with hardwood (real stuff not pergo) upgraded all the appliances, remodeled kitchen, granite counter tops and decorative mosaic backsplash and some minor tile work in master bath. I do a lot of reading on here and I see great advice and detailed information, I know my cash flow (which is super low) is not the best move but ultimately my mortgage is paid monthly I have 4 months reserve for the house and most all that can break has been replaced. My question is what's my next move from here? I want to do a better buy and hold deal or potentially a flip so Should I attempt a reappraisal and refi with some cash out (would I even receive any) or is there something else I'm missing that's better to try?

Not enough but not going to complain I guess, next tenant ill raise the rent up. I get about $125 after its all said and done, however it could rent for a lot more.

My tenants are Military and they use the Direct deposit into my account.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Spring Lake.

Purchase price: $171,000
Cash invested: $12,700

First go at real estate investing and buy and hold, seems to be working out so far.

How did you finance this deal?

Bank/Lender VA loan

How did you add value to the deal?

Remodeling floors, rooms, upgrading lighting, and replacing appliances.

What was the outcome?

Appealing to the tenants, they seem to LOVE the inside.

I'm very new to this, and I'm sure my idea wasn't the "best" but I replaced all my appliances and left the washer and dryer and its worked well for me.  I'm in a military market so the washer and dyer is very appealing. 

I guess I should have added I replaced the water heater as soon as I took owner ship of the home it decided to leak out. Additionally the HVAC in the attic has a Freon leak and the internals of the unit were replaced under warranty thankfully.

Hello to the forum, I guess I’m well on my way since I’m active duty Army and I received orders to Korea. Within the last two months I did what I thought was making my home “renter proof” got rid of carpet, added new appliances, repaired and painted walls, fixed up the landscaping for some visual appeal. Not sure if my initial investment of all that will pay back but I feel it will. I’m here to learn all I can and hopefully purchase another one and so on and so forth. I look forward to learning all I can here and maybe networking with some people in my area . Thanks