I bought my first rental property in December of 2010. I had wanted to buy a rental for quite some time, but it was not easy finding the right properties or the money. I ended up refinancing my personal residence and using the cash from that for a down payment on the rental. It was not easy deciding on the right time to buy, but the right house came along that fall. Even though my wife was pregnant with our twins, I went for it.
How did I find the house?
The house was for sale on the MLS when I found it. It was a great deal and priced at $97,900. I made an offer the first day it was listed, and told the listing agent to let me know if they got anymore offers. A day later I saw the house was under contract to another buyer! I was not happy, and let the listing agent know it. He said they got a better offer and the seller wanted to accept the other offer. I was super disappointed.
A few weeks later the listing agent called me and said the other contract had fallen apart. The agent asked if I still wanted it at the price I had offered and I said Yes! I ended up getting the house. I thought it would rent for $1,000 a month and it needed only a few thousand in work.
How did I finance the property?
I used a conventional lender to finance the property. I put 25 percent down, but it took almost two months to get the loan. The lender put me through the ringer to get financing. I almost lost the deal because we had to extend twice.
You can read all about the purchase here: https://investfourmore.com/2013/03/22/how-i-bought-my-first-rental-property-price-rents-cash-flow-and-more/
How has the property done?
The investment ended up being a good one! The house is now worth about $285,000 and rents for $1,500 a month. I have had to make very minimal repairs over the years and it has made me a lot of money. I actually paid off the property at one point. https://investfourmore.com/2014/02/07/first-rental-property-paid-three-years-bought/
Then I ended up getting another loan on it to help finance my house flips. I have bought 20 rentals since then and switched to commercial rentals due to the hot residential market. Hopefully I can keep buying rentals and increasing my cash flow.