How did we do our own monopoly project? How did we start investing in real estate and build our current holdings (two apartment complexes, two medical building and two SFH’s)? In this series we will trace the history of our real estate acquisitions. Previously we described how we got started by buying our first SFH in 1999. What was our motivation?

In the first post of our “Start Your Own Monopoly Project – Step 1: Get In Shape”, we referenced Dave Ramsey’s “Baby Steps” to financial fitness. Step 5 according to Dave it to “Save for your children’s college fund.” In Part 2, we explained our motivation and documented our initial baby step of buying our first rental house in 1999. By February of 2001 we had bought two more SFHs, and three triplexes: “Our Story – Part 3: We Start Buying Triplexes”. By the end of 2002, “Our Story – Part 4: More ‘Plexes”, we were up to 8 investment properties. 2003 was to be a pivotal year for us. In June of 2003, Jim left his W2 job to start our own engineering company; SEAIT LLC. We also bought three more properties; two fourplexes and a 2,500 sq ft office building for the new company. That totals to 11 investment properties in less than five years.

Then we traded the 7 properties totaling 24 units (4 triplexes and 3 fourplexes) via 1031 exchange for a 76 unit apartment building.

So, what next?

Since we started our own engineering business in 2003, our primary customer was in Los Angeles, 420 miles west of Phoenix. That is where Jim spent his weekdays. For Memorial Day weekend of 2005; Katie, Jennifer, and Melissa came out to Los Angeles and Michelle went exploring. …

…for a cabin on the river. She went to Christopher Creek northeast of Payson where her Girl Scouts previously gathered. From there she went exploring to find a cabin ‘on the water’. In Arizona? Water?

She found water in the East Verde River

and a cabin, for sale:

…on a river…

That flows year-round (yes in Arizona); that is why it is called “Flowing Springs”. The population is 42.

…that included a dead elk carcass:

We made an offer on the cabin and lost out to another buyer.
That buyer fell out.
We made another offer.
And lost out to another buyer.
That buyer fell out.
We made another offer.
It was accepted.
Escrow closed on the day before Thanksgiving, 23 November 2005. We went up there on Thursday morning and had hamburgers and fries for Thanksgiving.
Michelle always wanted a mounted deer head. She went to a local curio shop, and they said that they virtually never got such items in. A week later, they did.

We are still at flowing springs with lots of stories of snowstorms, free range cattle, elks eating everything, skunks under the house discovered by our dog, snakes, riding quads and even wedding bells in the future.