Getting Our Feet Wet

      We closed on our first investment property about a month ago.  Its is a 4 Bedroom/ 2 Bath in a good nieghborhood. We bought it as a 3 bedroom, but decided that one of the extra rooms already had a closet and would work nicely as a 4th bedroom. I feel that it is a marketable neighborhood to rent in, but have found that the majority of people on the street actually own.
      While there is a decent amount of work that goes into financing, title work ect. leading up to the closing, I expected the real work to begin once the house was ours. I was ready to hit the ground running. It has really been one thing after another. We had to get electrical work fixed before the city would come out and turn utilities on, had a plumber come check the gas lines, and got what remained out of the abandoned house. One thing I did learn was that people (in our case neighbors) will come look through the junk you set out and and pay you for it. Of course we didn't get top dollar, but nothing was in very good shape and it helped us get rid of stuff so we could get started on the house.
      I got with a referred contractor before we closed on the house and he started as soon as the utilities were set up. It has been pretty amazing to watch all the progress. Paint and carpet go along way to giving a house a new look. Not to mention fixing cracks, replacing windows, and a few new doors. We are setup to have the house completed by the end of the month. Once the inside is complete, we are going to start marketing the house for rent. I strongly believe that this is a learning process and we are taking things in stride. My rehab budget has needed to be expanded. I wanted to do much of the work myself, but with a full time job I have found it much more efficient to hire the help. I have been able to see 1st hand the saying that "you make money when you buy" is a very true statement.  In my next post, I hope to have good news in regards to a finished rehab and starting the tenant screening.

Why Real Estate Investing?

We are in our mid 20's and do not have much real estate investing experience. At the same time, we have a passion for building wealth and recognize the opportunities, especially in todays real estate market. The extent of my experience begins from when I was young. As long as I can remember, I worked a couple days a week at one of my dads properties in the summer and sometimes on the weekends. I would paint, mow, and do other misc. tasks as I grew strong enough. I would get paid a small sum as my dad felt that my time working was important and he also wanted to teach me to budget the money that I did earn. Because of that, from every dollar that I earned, a good portion of it went to "savings." This savings could be for a future purchase of a car, house, engagement ring ect. With all of this being said, I still have very little experience with real estate. See my dad owned these properties and while I went with him to work on the houses, meet tenants, and witnessed him taking many weekend phone calls , I have found that it is a much different process when you are spending your own hard earned money on any investment. My wife has no experience with real estate investing, but I will promise you that she will be vital to our success. She is great with organization, decorating, communicating with people, and many other attributes that I lack in. We have been searching for a house to convert to a rental for a few months now. We closed on it last month. More on that in the next post! Happy Cinco De Mayo!