Portfolio Update #1: Foreclosure, Debt, Reality of owning rentals, Plan to Grow.

Is This It? - The Greeting Committee.

What a year it's been. 2025's been a interesting year so far to say the least. I'm going to break this up into a few sections, Right of Redemption, Debt and Interest Rates, Reality of owning out of of state rentals and finally the direction of this small itty bitty real estate portfolio.

Right of f****** Redemption:

I wish I knew more about this in general. From my understanding, if theres a right of redemption on a property when you purchase it, the previous owner(s) have the right to buy back the house, or foreclose on the property if there was previous debt.

AI answer:

A right of redemption is a legal provision that allows a borrower to reclaim property that has been foreclosed upon, by paying off the outstanding debt, including any foreclosure-related costs, within a specific timeframe. This right can be exercised either before or, in some cases, after a foreclosure sale.

Long story short, for a rental property I bought in late November 2024, got hit with a right of redemption. I kept getting notices in Feb, March, and May. And then it was sold in late may. In short, the title company f***** up and gave me a general warranty deed when I should of got a special warranty deed due to the right of redemption. Thank god I had title insurance. I raised a claim with the title insurance company and got a check for what I paid. But, unfortunately, I did not get reimbursement for the renovation I put in. Tough pill to swallow, I spent 14,000 re doing a lot of the interior of the house. Click here to view the scope and that blog going over the renovation.

I could of gone two ways:

option 1. Cash check roll into better deal on a bigger 5bdrm. This house was going to be rented for 900 a month… very low for a 3drm due to the small Sqft'd

option 2. Maybe try to buy back the house? loose another 5k on that, numbers become smaller but already have a tenant nearly in place for this house.

With attorney fee's costing maybe 6,500 and months of bs, to retrieve maybe 14k, I decided to cash the check and buy a better deal in better area. In short, the title company f**** up. Lesson learned, always get title insurance.

Debt & Rates:

Rates are still high, 6.72% at the time of writing this, 7/11/2025. It's unfortunate, when I started to look into getting into real estate in late 2022, I watched rates soar coming out of the covid 0% fed funds rate era. *Continued 7/15/2025* I felt like many of the real estate teachings from the last 10 years didn't work so well anymore with rates being high.

Currently, most of my mortgages are at 6.41%, I feel lucky I happened to refinance in September 2024 when the rates dipped down. It's not the worst, I still cashflow a bit but everything becomes tighter. The deals have to be good and the numbers have to be pretty strict. That's the thing, most people I've learned from built huge rental portfolios when rates were 3-4%. At those rates, it just makes sense to refi anything and everything because it just works numbers wise.

So it's a bit of adjusting in terms of building a portfolio with higher rates. My idea is: Buy great deals in great areas slowly, pick and choose the right deals, build equity through adding 1-2 bedrooms and converting 1/4 baths to full baths and still refinance the shit out of everything! At the end of the day, with nearly all the homes I've bought, I still cashflow a bit after debt. But the my reason for continuing refinancing and taking on more debt is taxes, growth and my goals with this itty bitty portfolio.

The realities of owning out of state rental properties:

Boy, oh boy. Where to start... From person to person it varies, some people I talk to think out of state investing and section8 is great, while others think it's a horrible idea, example; My Father.

The reality is... It's not what internet people make it out to be and but it's also not horrible. Just like a running a business, there's risks involved, theres ups and downs and it's gambling to some extent. You trade the daily/weekly stresses for more monthly stresses when it comes to real estate. Additionally, it's easier to make progress, it's more of a straight path. Once you know what to look for, it's easy to find and replicate. It just comes down a simple constraint, which is CASH. And when debts expensive, that cash is limited.

Note: People on the internet will preach SELLER FINANCING, CREATIVE FINANCING and OTHER BS to acquire these rentals. I don't understand it, you can hardly secure a mortgage on one of these properties without bundling them together because of the VALUE of them. I'm truly mystified to how people are financing, seller financing, or doing any weird shit to get into a rental with limited cash. I've only heard it being pitched, I've never known anyone doing it personally. Factor in a 10% buffer for repairs, and another 5-10% for just weird ass shit that'll happen. Realize you'll have a few hundred or maybe a thousand dollars worth of utility bills when you renovate a property. Also - when tenants move in - typically theres a few things that need to be fixed up, as the house has been used in years most of the time. HVAC, Toilets, Appliances will have some issues right when the tenant moves in.

Luckily, out of the 15 properties I've been able to buy, I haven't been fleeced by a contractor yet... We'll, not totally fleeced...

My belief is just, more time spent doing the exact same thing just provides a better outcome with experience.

The first unit I bought was a 4 bedroom 1 bathroom and I was into it for 110,000 (it's currently rented for 1350). The most recent unit I bought was a 5 Bedroom 2 bathroom and I'm into for 82,085. With the rent being around the 1500 range...

Looking back - I did make some solid mistakes, so hopefully I can save someone from making some of those by writing this.

Growing!

Thankfully I'm nearing 100% occupancy rates across the rentals and it's starting to cashflow a nice bit.

I plan to refinance a handful units near the end of the year and swing that into more deals in the new year. Thank god the tax deductions are coming back in 2026! My plan is to start buying early 2026 to take full advantage of the 100% accelerated depreciation off renovations. Other than that, I'm trying my best just to find good deals, do good renovations, good areas, lease to good tenants, lastly and most importantly, work with good people!

Thanks for reading, friends, family or strangers I've happened to share this blog with!

-7/15/2025 :)