I might have been going down the path of another money moron moment that perhaps turned out for the best. What do you think?
Since May of this year (2018), I made it a goal to start taking my first steps in buying my first home, an investment property to either flip or turn into a rental property.
In order to achieve this house goal, the money would have been with my savings, which would have left me enough for 3 months of emergency funds. I had far more than the 6 months emergency fund and realized this year that I should have put the excess amount in ETFs or something other than a high yield savings account. This also includes the fact that I had $40,000 in student loan debt at around a 5.2% interest rate.
Still, I was striving for that house goal. Perhaps this was a money moron moment that I ended up avoiding.
I looked at about a dozen houses a weekend for about 2 months.
It was all about learning and finally taking action.
I was an avid listener of the Bigger Pockets podcast and participating in the forum. It was time to take action.
Two months later in July 2018 and after about 30 rejected offers, one of my offers finally got accepted. That alone took a few back and forths, but if it all went well, I would be able to flip this property and make a decent chunk of change.
I had never gone through the process of buying a house, so I was overwhelmed and stressed during this process despite my real estate agent being super helpful and patient.
Then came the home inspection.
I accepted the house condition as is so I thought I knew the major repairs going in such as the roof needing to be completely replaced.
However, it turns out the roof caused major leaks (parts of the house had a 100% moisture reading) and molding that would require additional expenses that would not make any financial sense.
Unfortunately (or fortunately?) I ultimately had to pass on the property.
I paid $1,000 to learn how this process works over the course of 2-3 intense weeks. I learned an incredible amount….something I could not have experienced by just listening to a podcast or reading other people’s experience on forums.
The earnest money I got back will be going towards paying off my student loan debt.
Although I am currently burnt out going through this house hunting and buying process, I aim to get back on the hunt around October. I learned an incredible amount by going through the process myself. The $1,000 I lost for inspection and other things as well as the numerous hours I spent away from my full time job was absolutely worth it.
Take action now!
