Overview of Two Rentals, $3,000 Each: The Guide to Closing with Close-to-Nothing
In this episode of the Real Estate Rookie Podcast, Tomasina shares how she went from a “save every penny” mindset to buying her first out-of-state rental in Cleveland with very little money out of pocket. After the pandemic disrupted her modeling income, she started learning about investing, found BiggerPockets, connected with a mentor, and closed on a $63,000 single-family home using seller concessions to bring only about $3,000 to closing. She later sold that property for $110,000, then bought a 10-bedroom duplex and discovered that rent-by-the-room is the strategy she wants to scale.
Tomasina’s Path Into Real Estate
Early money habits
- Grew up with a strong “save, save, save” message from her parents.
- Worked from a young age and had accumulated meaningful savings by the time she moved to New York City.
- Juggled modeling during the day and social work at night.
Pandemic wake-up call
- When COVID hit, her modeling income slowed dramatically.
- That disruption made her realize that a savings account alone was not real financial security.
- She began reading books like Rich Dad Poor Dad and fell into a research rabbit hole that led her to BiggerPockets.
How She Found a Mentor and Got Started
Mentor discovery
- She reached out on Instagram to someone she wanted to be friends with, who turned out to be a real estate investor.
- That connection led her to Yamu, an investor in Cleveland who offered mentorship.
What she looked for in a mentor
- Price point: She wanted something affordable, since this was her first deal.
- Trust and rapport: She preferred a mentor connected to someone in her network.
- Relevant experience: She looked for someone active in the kind of investing she wanted to do.
- Patience: She valued someone who could answer beginner questions without being salesy.
Financing Her First Deal
Preparing to qualify
- She initially explored the NACA program and used it as a way to understand what documents lenders would require.
- She gathered the paperwork lenders would expect before even applying.
- She also researched lenders on BiggerPockets, specifically looking for ones comfortable with 1099 income.
Why lending was tricky
- Her modeling income made some lenders hesitant.
- Her W-2 social work income and strong savings history helped offset that.
- She emphasized the importance of shopping lenders, since some specialize in nontraditional borrowers.
The First Property: A $63,000 Cleveland Single-Family
Deal details
- Property: Single-family home in Cleveland, Ohio
- Purchase price: $63,000
- Loan: Conventional loan
- Down payment: 20%
- Cash to close: About $3,000 after structuring seller concessions
Why seller concessions mattered
- Instead of simply lowering the price, her agent negotiated seller concessions.
- That allowed her to:
- Reduce her cash needed at closing
- Buy down the interest rate
- Cover some closing costs with the seller’s money
- The result was a much lower out-of-pocket investment than she originally expected.
Team-building from afar
- She found her first agent through online research, including BiggerPockets agent search and Zillow.
- Her second agent was a much better fit because:
- They communicated faster
- They had real investor experience
- They understood out-of-state buying and Cleveland market dynamics
Remote Landlord Lessons
What went wrong with self-management
- The home already had a tenant, and Tomasina attempted to self-manage from New York.
- She raised the rent without much discussion, which led to the tenant leaving.
- She felt emotionally uncomfortable with how she handled the situation and realized self-management was not right for her at that time.
Switching to property management
- She hired a property management company quickly.
- That change allowed her to stabilize the property with a new tenant, including a Section 8 tenant.
- Later, she learned that her inability to self-manage was less about skill and more about emotional bandwidth and mental health.
Cash Flow and Performance
First property returns
- With property management in place and rents aligned with market rates, the property cash flowed around $800–$900 per month.
- However, much of that cash flow was reinvested into repairs because the tenant caused significant wear and tear.
Sale of the first property
- After about two years, she sold the house for $110,000.
- She had bought it for $63,000 and put roughly $24,000 into renovations over time.
- She later noted the property could likely have sold for even more if she had held it longer.
The Second Deal: A 10-Bedroom Duplex House Hack
Why she bought a duplex next
- She wanted to continue scaling and also try a house hack.
- The duplex gave her a chance to live in one side and rent the other.
Market and location research
- This time, she asked more targeted questions about:
- School systems
- Development activity
- Neighborhood trajectory
- Safety and livability
- She focused on the Shaker Heights / Cleveland Heights area, which had strong student and young adult demand.
Deal structure
- Purchase price: $325,000
- Loan: FHA
- Down payment: 3.5%
- Cash to close: Around $3,000 again, helped by seller concessions
Managing the Duplex
Initial plan
- She tried to self-manage again, but this time with a strategy built around rent by the room.
- One side of the duplex was rented by the room.
- The other side was rented as a full unit.
Setup and move-in
- Her friends and family helped her furnish and paint the property.
- She filled rooms quickly using:
- Facebook Marketplace
- Roomies
- Zillow
- She never had to cover the full mortgage alone after closing.
When she brought in property management
- She initially tried to self-manage the other side, but winter made leasing slower.
- She hired one management company, fired them a week later due to poor communication and excessive tenant fees, and then found a much better company.
- Her current property manager has been a strong long-term fit because of:
- Fast communication
- Transparent repair handling
- Good tenant placement
- Flexibility if she wants to outsource repairs herself
Current Numbers and Strategy
Duplex performance
- She cash flows about $800 per month on the duplex.
- Rent-by-the-room brings in significantly more:
- About $2,905 total on the room-rental side
- About $2,100 on the traditional rental side
What she learned
- Rent-by-the-room is the strategy she wants to scale.
- She enjoys the mix of:
- Higher income potential
- Helping young adults afford housing
- Seeing tenants use the savings to improve their lives
Key Takeaways for Rookie Investors
1. Saving is not the same as investing
- A savings account is useful, but it may not create long-term financial security on its own.
2. Mentorship can accelerate progress
- Her mentor helped her avoid analysis paralysis and move forward.
- The best mentors are patient, experienced, and aligned with your goals.
3. Shop lenders aggressively
- Not all lenders treat 1099 or nontraditional income the same.
- The right lender can make a deal possible.
4. Use seller concessions creatively
- Seller concessions can reduce your cash needed at closing and help buy down your rate.
5. Choose your local team carefully
- Especially in out-of-state investing, a strong agent and property manager can make or break the experience.
6. Know your own management style
- Tomasina learned that self-management was emotionally draining for her at the time.
- That doesn’t mean she couldn’t do it, but it did mean she needed the right system and support.
7. Try strategies that fit the market
- Rent-by-the-room worked especially well in her second property because of the area’s student and young professional demand.
Where She’s Headed Next
- Tomasina sold the first property and plans to use those proceeds for buying a small business.
- She’s continuing to build around the rent-by-the-room model and a more hands-on, intentional investing approach.
Connect with Tomasina
- Instagram / YouTube: Tomasina Myrisa
- BiggerPockets Forums: Thomasina Pierce