House #1 (Offer #6) Closed!

The Good
What a relief it is to finally have control of my first investment property. No matter what transpires from this point forward, I feel I can finally call myself a real estate investor (I'll leave the word 'creative' off for now). Both my agent and loan officer were there at the closing, along with me, my wife, and daughter. For the most part, everything went off without a hitch. Matter of fact, I ended up bringing about $22 more than I needed, which was an unexpected surprise.

After all the paperwork was signed, my loan officer said he recently went to some gathering where Section 8 vouchers are distributed and selected tenants can be interviewed by property owners. He said there were several people looking for four bedroom SFR's and he believed the government would pay $1300-$1500 rent for those. That definately caught my attention, and I asked if he would talk to me more about htis next week (he was in a hurry to leave right then). I've definately heard my share of horror stories about Section 8 tenants, though.

My agent also said she was contacted by another agent, who said she is looking for a place for some renters. She said they only need the place for three months, and that price wasn't a huge consideration. My agent said I could probably ask for $1,500/month and get it with no problem. She said the downside is my property would sit during the prime selling months of May-July, though. Just something else to consider.

The Bad
Well, even though I'm ecstatic about the aquisition, there were a view negative things that occurred. First, are closing was slated for 4:00pm. My wife and I arrived at 3:50pm and checked in. Then we waited. And waited. At around 4:15pm, my agent arrived with a bottle of champagne and a real estate investing book as gifts. So we started talking, and waiting. At around 4:30pm, my loan officer arrives, and we all start talking about real estate and whatnot, and waited and waited. Finally, about 5:00pm, we are called back to start the closing. Anyone with a 2yr old knows how irritable they can become with having to just 'sit', and ours was no exception.

Since I had got 100% financing, it was split between an 80% loan and a 20% loan, which meant DOUBLE paperwork to sign. I was signing for a good 45 mintues. Another bad thing was that I mentioned the point about getting reimbursed for the 'extra' survey charge. The closing agent didn't know anything about it, so I told her to call XYZ who would know it. She left the room, and came back a short time later saying that they would do the closing as-is, and I would need to fax them the survey receipt first thing Monday morning. Once they get it, they'll cut me a check. Oh great. I wanted to argue, but with my daughter acting up and nerves already on edge, I just said 'fine'. The loan officer was there and tried to fight for me, but the closing agent said she couldn't do anything without the survey receipt. I wish I had known I needed it, or I would have brought it.

Another thing that set me back a little was my loan officer said we could get the property refinanced right away at 90% for a new appraisal price. Nothing wrong with that, except he summized the house would probably appraise now at $120k-$125k. GULP! Here I am figuring $130k-$135k for the medium price, and he's saying $125k tops. My agent said she would do another CMA on the property for me over the weekend. So now I'm biting my nails hoping my comps will pull through. If they don't, then I'll seriously consider refinancing and holding the property, but I'll have to show convincing evidence to my wife first. :-)

Conclusion
All-in-all, though, it went well. My wife, daughter, and I all went out to eat afterward to celebrate, and spent the remainder of the night relaxing, knowing we still had a lot of work to do starting the next day.

As I write this, it is early Saturday morning, and I am about to get ready to start working on the house. There isn't a lot to do besides normal cleaning, but it should take the better part of the day to do. Note: If any local investors want to meet me, I'll be at the property today, so stop by and say 'Hi'. Just realize that I'll probably be busy, and won't be able to chat for a long time, though.

And, thus, continues the venture.

BTW, a big thanks to everyone who has helped with suggestions and comments on these boards, whether good or bad. I feel everyone that has given me input has contributed to my success thus far, and I thank you all for helping. I still have a long road ahead of me, not only with this single property, but with my venture as a whole, but as the old proverb says, 'Every journey begins with the first step.'