I recently finished my first rehab project on a rental and I couldn’t be more excited. With the help of my family, the property is now rented. It was a challenging road though.  I acquired (free of charge) the property from my mom through a Quit Claim Deed. A Quit Claim Deed is roughly a two page document that is used to transfer ownership of real property from one party to another. It took me a whole year to convince her to do it.  She had every excuse in the book saying, “it’s in a bad neighborhood and nobody wants to fix us their house in the neighborhood” and at one point she said she was just going to give it away.  About a year ago, she finally changed her mind and came to me and said, you can have it. I found a lawyer that would draw up the paperwork I couldn’t let her just give it away.  It was the first home she purchased and it had no mortgage.  She lived in that home for over 20 years.  It’s the only home my little sister knows and although they didn’t want to leave it, it was the best decision for them after my stepdad passed away. 

Two months after I had the warranty deed, I came home to start looking for contractors. The home needed a lot of work since no one had lived in it for nearly 2 years. I interviewed a few and I settled on a contractor who was the cheapest. Yeah, it was a bad rookie move.  The contractor basically tore the house apart, only to come back to me and ask me for more money.  When I declined, they stopped working on the home.  So I was back at square one.  Luckily my boyfriend has a friend who lived in Louisiana and was familiar with how the homes are structured so mid Jan, he began to  work on the property and all was going well for the few couple of weeks. When I visited in Feb, I was hoping the property would be near completion, but it wasn’t and although I was disappointed, the trip was not a complete waste because I managed not only to find a Property Manager, but also a tenant in the same week. Although I had not planned or even entertained the idea of a Section 8 tenant, it was an opportunity presented to me and I took it.  The next thing I knew I was preparing for a Section 8 tenant to move in which required an inspection that is like taking a National Certification Exam (nerve wrecking). 

After the contractors had done all they were going to do, which wasn’t the complete job and I refused to pay him the entire remaining balance, my family stepped in to finish the job and after 3 inspections, the property passed and the tenant moved in.  Looking back, there are a lot of things in my process I would change.  However, the fact that the property is still in our family and it looks better than ever is so satisfying and I cannot wait to take on my next deal after further reflection and a down payment.