John is a smart man. He was given his inheritance when he was twenty-four. At $100,000.00 he could've used the sum to purchase a high performance car or maybe a long vacation somewhere he always wanted to visit. John wasn't ready to give up his inheritance on a short term relief out of the work of normal life. He was going to invest that money in something that pays a return. $100,000.00 is a lot of dough, if he let his money slip through the drain like that he wouldn't get another chance at a free chunk of dough again.
John was already well off for his young age when family lawyers wrote him the promised check. He went to college. He worked hard. He partied hard. He used his money on steady investments that paid off. It wasn't like he needed a new toy. A new toy would be awesome but he knew that he could use his inheritance to benefit him financially in the long term. Since he already has all that he needs and saved up a good sized savings of his own, he wouldn't be hard up for the money or miss his inheritance once he made a useful investment of it.
He deposited his inheritance into its own bank account and then went on an adventure around the city on a mission to find a house within his price bracket that he could turn around and make some profit on. He started off aimlessly exploring parts of the city he was yet to see and searched for the occasional “For Sale” sign sitting on the lawn. $100,000.00 couldn't purchase him a new house but he could find an old used house that needed some small maintenance and he would be alright.
One day he was driving through the older neighborhoods where all the houses were well beyond their intended use. Houses built a hundred or so years ago. Many of them upkept in shape fit for families, some of them were barely standing.
He initially found three houses out of a long list of them that he both liked and could get with his small budget. He scheduled visits to a couple of the houses with the owners, finding that the foundation was crumbling at house number one and house number two needed too many fixes that brought the end price beyond his budget. That brought him to house number three.
This third house was located at the top of a hill near the center of the city. Surrounded with trees and thicket, the area held the appearance of being in the country but wasn't at all. With a look of long abandonment the house was actually in great condition for its age. Two stories high with a covered porch, he thought the house was charming for its small size. A grand old tree provided the whole yard with much needed shelter from the scathing sun. The seller sign attached on the mailbox said, “Private Sale, Inquire for Price.” with the owner’s phone number.
John shifted his car into park and turned it off. He called the number on the sign using his wireless phone. The seller was energetic and surprised that John called, agreeing to show him the house the next day. When the call was done John sat in the driveway for a while, soaking in the magnificent vintage atmosphere of the neighborhood. Peaceful.
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The next day John returned to the house that he wanted at the agreed time to meet the owner and maybe perform the deal. He wasn't sure what to expect and couldn't make a decision without seeing the property and the inside of the house first.
The owner's name was Dennis and he was a young businessman that purchased the house at auction.
Dennis showed him the property. The yard was unkempt and grown over. The house needed a coat of paint and the siding wasn't dry rotted. The porch and wood floors were solid. Two stories and a small wine cellar with a ground-level window and a tiny attic, everything finely crafted.
There were no major damages inside the house that John could immediately notice. That didn't mean that there wasn't something with the potential to be expensively wrong with the house. John put his faith in that there weren’t hidden discrepancies. He could tell that the previous occupants weren’t abusive to their property.
John really liked this house. He could see that once the small fixes were done and the yard was restored he wouldn’t mind living there himself and if it weren't that he liked the house he already lived in so much he might've moved in here.
John discussed the previous owners with Dennis. The original owners were grandchildren of the people that built the house. Those owners recently died without anyone to inherit their house and property, so the I.R.S. sold the house at auction. Dennis bought the house for $50,000.00 and was selling it for $70,000.00.
John believed that Dennis was telling him the truth and accepted the price of $70,000.00. He wrote Dennis a check right there and Dennis gave him a receipt. They agreed to meet once again to finish up the paperwork once the check was verified and the money received.
Dennis gave John the keys and they shook hands. “Thank you, Dennis.” said John. “You are more than welcome.” replied Dennis. Once Dennis was gone John spent some time in the yard of his new purchase all alone. He looked at the long swing that hung off the largest tree branch, appearing so old and worn that it would easily break if he were to try and sit on it. “I'm going to remove that.” he thought to himself.
John fixed his house up and painted the exterior without help. The task proved very easy as the most difficult part of the restoration was sanding and staining some of the wood floors where years of use slowly damaged the surface. He went through the property with a thorough care till the place was up to his own living standards. All the utilities were functioning well and the yard looked great. Summer's end was on its way and he would like to find a tenant before the autumn months.
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John noticed that house listings with more information and photos spent less time on the market so he advertised his newly restored house with bold print and a photo, sparing no expense. Several renters contacted him within a week and he was happy to show the house to them whenever they wanted. One young woman wanted to rent and soon he was reading through the renters’ agreement with her.
Her name was Allie and she was close to the end of her education, training for her P.H.D. in chemistry. She wanted to head her own laboratory at a government research firm. We would discuss science, me being a science enthusiast. We didn't find an end to our conversations and often cut ourselves short because of the limited time in our personal lives.
Allie became a trusty tenant with her rental payments always on time and she treated the property like it was her own. No complaints about her.
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John went on saving his money and soon within five years the property paid itself off without any notable damages. Tenants would stay one to two years apiece before moving on. He would take these profits and then re-invest them. He would purchase more properties and fix them up, continuing this pattern on through to his death at 87 years young.