Success Story

Meet Jesus, Hilda and their family … when they first rented from me, their oldest daughter, Karina, was an infant.

They were wonderful tenants and fantastic people.  Kind, hard-working, excellent parents.  Jesus approached me in 2004 about purchasing the double in which they lived.  (His sister and her son lived in the other apartment in the duplex.)

I set it up as a land contract and charged him 50K for the home.  (I’d bought it for 20K, did 15K of repairs/updates before renting it out.)  I continued to carry the insurance and property taxes, but I passed these expenses on to Jesus, by adding those amounts into his monthly payment, and also charging him 9% interest.  He gave me 7K down, and paid on time every month.

Within seven+ years, he became the proud owner of that home.  Throughout those years, he also improved the property, inside and out.  Here are a couple of before and after pictures:

I’ve been invited to their children’s confirmations, graduations, etc., and every time I stop by, Hilda is offering me some kind of delicious Mexican concoction she has whipped up that day.

Throughout my real estate investing journey, I’ve forged relationships that will last a lifetime.  This is just one of many examples.  Although there are plenty of scammers out there, this family and other tenants like them more than make up for the “rotten apples.”  They’ve enriched my real estate investing experience more than they can ever know.

Income is essential, of course, but these relationships are truly the icing on the cake!  🙂