My Real Estate Investment

I have been investing in real estate heavily during the last 5 years. My conclusion is that you just need to make the decision by yourself, run a calculated risk, and profit from it.

I came to Northern Virginia in 2000 with nothing but a debt of $10K. When I was buying my first house in spring of 2001, my colleague was strongly against my idea of such a purchase as the market was already up quite a bit. Her advice prompted me to do a research on the house price and income of the county. I just found that the median income was more than $80K and the median RE price was less than $200K. I was convinced that it was a wonderful time to buy. So I bought my first house. It was a five bedroom three full bath single family house for only $267K.

Then in 2002, my next door neighbor wanted to sell theirs and move into a larger one. I bought it for $265K. As the price had already gone up quite a bit, this one had only three bedrooms and 2 full baths. My colleague called me crazy.

Then in 2003, I bought a townhouse for $300K. My colleague told me that I was “INSANE”.

Then in 2004, I bought another townhouse and 2 condos.

In 2005, I sold my first SFH for $527K which almost doubled the price I bought.
Then I bought another condo.

This year, I sold one condo for a profit of $55K, and, bought three condos.

Now I end up with 8 properties and roughly a million dollars as equity.

Right now, the market is really slow and the price has dropped around 10% from the peak of the last year. If Miat is correct and the market is going to be flat for several years, I will have the opportunity to purchase many more before the next run-up.

If you think you are correct, either in RE or stock market, just go ahead and do it- buy, sell, hold, or just wait. Do not be confused by the others’ advices.

Lots of people think that I am just lucky, but I don’t agree. I HAD KNOWN the RE market had to go up when I jumped into the RE market in 2001.


BTW, my salary is not high at all compared to the other folks in this forum.

所有跟帖： 

• 恭喜+能干~从你写的来看很不错哈,算是白手起家到现在的一个M -甜酒甜- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 08:11:34

• Thank you! -va_landlord- ♂ (90 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 08:16:40

• Switch to invest from SF to Condo is good choice -katies- ♀ (295 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 08:19:45

• But for me, I had no choice -va_landlord- ♂ (455 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 08:25:27

• 我很有兴趣买CONDO投资，能不能介绍经念？ -katies- ♀ (136 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 08:35:31

• It really depends -va_landlord- ♂ (193 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 08:38:15

• va-landlord = miat42? 写作方法有一点象:) 恭喜发财. -山高月小- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 08:26:19

• Not really! But we both live in NVA -va_landlord- ♂ (164 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 08:30:18

• We live in the same region 回复：va-landlord = miat42? 写作方法 -miat42- ♂ (117 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 09:58:40

• 回复：va-landlord = miat42? 写作方法有一点象:) 恭喜发财. -Live2Fish- ♂ (100 bytes) () 12/14/2006 postreply 19:49:05

• Thanks for sharing. Did you rent out the house before -deedee2kcn- ♀ (142 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 08:29:55

• I hold them as long as I can -va_landlord- ♂ (470 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 08:35:36

• you just hold it without renting it? Why not? -deedee2kcn- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 08:39:17

• I rent all of them -va_landlord- ♂ (125 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 08:40:42

• 太厉害了，太佩服了，多交流阿。 -lily3- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 08:36:07

• Thank you! -va_landlord- ♂ (43 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 08:39:17

• 回复：My Real Estate Investment -muchomoney- ♂ (170 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 08:42:38

• In Real Estate Investment -va_landlord- ♂ (103 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 08:45:42

• 回复：In Real Estate Investment -muchomoney- ♂ (99 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 08:48:09

• Well, lots of people sold theirs when they saw a profit -va_landlord- ♂ (25 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 08:54:39

• it is luck, people who got luck also need guts -everafter- ♂ (22 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 20:30:53

• 回复：My Real Estate Investment -Mom3- ♀ (197 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 08:43:10

• I do have a regular job -va_landlord- ♂ (507 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 08:48:59

• One question... -Lily3- ♀ (208 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 08:44:35

• The thresh-hold of RE price and median income -va_landlord- ♂ (312 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 08:53:22

• 我想现在大家要看看自己的TOWN,前几年房地产有没有爆长,人口增长趋势 -katies- ♀ (58 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 09:00:51

• 真牛！ 佩服！ -甜9娘- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 08:45:29

• 现在美元贬值,怎么着捏着大把美金就害怕. -katies- ♀ (52 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 08:51:41

• 回复：现在美元贬值,怎么着捏着大把美金就害怕. -Mom3- ♀ (50 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 08:57:38

• So you bought 6 houses/condo in 4 years before you -deedee2kcn- ♀ (182 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 08:46:31

• I refinanced my existing properties again and again and cashed o -va_landlord- ♂ (12 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 08:56:28

• You have courage, admire you! -deedee2kcn- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 09:00:09

• 回复：My Real Estate Investment -pediatrician- ♂ (803 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 08:58:57

• I think I am better educated and mentally prepared -va_landlord- ♂ (443 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 09:06:02

• RE investment would be the one of the worst in next 5 years -Pediatrician- ♂ (315 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 09:15:20

• You can always find good deals -va_landlord- ♂ (153 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 09:18:57

• 有一些LUCK，当然选好LOCATION更重要 -katies- ♀ (89 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 09:09:28

• 牛，太牛了 -hello2- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 09:04:08

• 对不起：冷水! -梦思得- ♂ (598 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 09:07:46

• 不管在什么市，都是少数人赚钱，我在股市里学到的血的教训。 -katies- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 09:13:41

• most smart and correct comment today! -everafter- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 20:45:30

• You are correct! -va_landlord- ♂ (347 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 09:13:52

• Second your opinion 回复： 对不起：冷水! -miat42- ♂ (425 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 09:54:44

• 正所谓富贵险中求，不是每个人都能有这种胆量的，不过还是建议见好就 -好像不是这么回事- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 09:11:01

• You just need to manage your risk -va_landlord- ♂ (158 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 09:16:30

• this is same guy, you should be careful if you want to become hi -DC_guy- ♂ (81 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 10:33:46

• Haha, you know me! So you know Miat is someone else, not me -va_landlord- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 10:37:53

• 回复：Haha, you know me! So you know Miat is someone else, not m -DC_guy- ♂ (263 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 10:43:23

• 回复：this is same guy, you should be careful if you want to bec -DC_guy- ♂ (387 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 10:40:17

• Right! Some people did lose a lot in RE. -va_landlord- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 10:50:38

• 佩服！ 真牛！but -asaMan- ♂ (46 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 10:46:36

• They usually keep silence. -va_landlord- ♂ (60 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 10:49:41

• 回复：My Real Estate Investment- too risky -catie- ♀ (464 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 11:07:00

• How much down payment you paid for the first one? -yiyi777- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 12:16:11

• 5% - I borrowed money from whoever I could -va_landlord- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 12:27:14

• 这东西,关键是眼光,胆量,没一点钱不行,但也不一定要很多钱. -shn888- ♂ (102 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 13:55:40

• 回复：My Real Estate Investment -treatyourselfwell- ♀ (58 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 15:07:42

• 回复：My Real Estate Investment -TreatYourselfWell- ♀ (60 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 15:26:20

• I manage them by myself -va_landlord- ♂ (54 bytes) () 12/14/2006 postreply 06:20:41

• 当房东需要什莫身份？H1b行吗？需要注册公司？ -xinshoubanluka- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 19:19:02

• H1b行吗？Yes! 需要注册公司？Depends on which state you are -va_landlord- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/14/2006 postreply 06:21:16

• my 2 cents -ZHAO123- ♀ (1260 bytes) () 12/13/2006 postreply 19:26:26

• You mean not investing in the same metro area? -ilovenyc- ♂ (178 bytes) () 12/14/2006 postreply 08:13:19

• 回复：You mean not investing in the same metro area? -zhao123- ♀ (438 bytes) () 12/14/2006 postreply 09:04:55