By John Fang, March 17, 2025
In 1974, I was a young naval officer stationed in Jacksonville Florida. During my free time, I read my first real estate book by Robert Allen. His book talked about buying real estate properties with no money down. I was intrigued and hooked. I started to look for properties near the Naval Station in Jacksonville, Florida where I worked.
Jacksonville In those days was a very open city. Square mileage wise this city was larger than New York City, but it was not densely populated. I wanted to purchase a property somewhat convenient but not too far from the Jacksonville Naval Station. There were housing close to the Naval station but at the time there was none for sale. Additionally, properties close to the Naval Station were expensive .
I then decided to look for properties within a 10-mile radius of the naval station. I enlisted a local real estate agent Who was an older couple with experience in residential real estate. They found me a ranch style rambler home. The property they show me was a two-bedroom rambler with no basement and a large yard. It was the second property they showed me and the property was in good condition and did not need any repairs. The price of the property was $6000. I decided to buy it. After settlement, they were able to rent the property within a month.
A photo of a similar rambler that I bought
The terms of the purchase were $1000 down and a mortgage loan of $5000. I did not have to get a new loan as the seller was willing to give me owner financing of $5000 with monthly payments in interests payment only. The seller was an older couple and they preferred monthly payments rather than a lump sum. The monthly payment was $45 a month. We negotiated but he was only willing to accept no lower than a 9% interest on the mortgage.
I purchased the house and paid a finder’s commission of 5%. The new tenant was willing to pay a rent of $100 a month and my realtor charged me 15% Commission of the rent per month for managing the property. The new tenants were a young couple working on the same ship I was working on but in a different department. They paid on time and kept the property in good condition.
After two years, I’ve decided to sell the property as I was transferring back to Washington DC. Because of time limitation, I decided to use the same real estate agent that I used to purchase this property. They sold the property quickly. They sold the house for $7000 and charged me a 10% sales commission. It was a cash transaction or new financing. Overall, I did not make much money from this sale. What profit I did make was from the tax write-off of the property during the two years that I owned it.
This was the first real estate property that I owned. I learned several things. First of all, I should have checked and compared what real estate commission rates other realtors in the same area were charging. Also, most of the people renting in that area were Navy people. They usually are very good tenants. I could have put an ad on my ship’s bulletin board and rent the property out myself in less than a week. This would have saved me 15% on the monthly management fee. Additionally, when I first started looking for properties, I should have checked around and possibly may find a similar rambler at a lower price. Most importantly, I learned that most things in real estate are negotiable, especially the purchase price, the sale price, the type of financing and the commission. I did not negotiate either. I took the recommendations that my realtor had provided me. Nevertheless, this was an important and very useful experience for me and one that will help me in my future real estate endeavors.
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