I bought a single family home in Fort Myers, FL in Jan 2012 for 95K. I put down 5% and with closing costs it was around 9K total. I then put in 16K in repairs over the next 2-3 years. My total investment was 25K. My PITI averaged $650/month, depending on taxes and insurance.
We lived there as a primary residence from Jan 2012 to July 2015. It has been a rental since August 2015. Rents started at $1600/month and they are now $1850/month. We have collected around 44K in cash flow, after expenses.
I just did a cash-out re-fi last week. The house appraised for 250K and I got a check for 107K.
107K + 44K = 151K. My original investment was 25K, so this is a 600% return.
I still have 25% equity and the new PITI is $1300/month.
The cherry on top was that I went against conventional wisdom and advice from most others to move to Florida in 2011. The economy was horrible at the time due to the recession. I had recently turned down a job in D.C. that paid 50% more. However, D.C. was still too expensive at the time for me to buy real estate, so I said, "no"
