I have learned so much on this board, great to know there is a place to turn for new investors. Many of the investors on this board seem to be in areas where property values are still low. In South Florida there are not too many single family homes left for under $250K. Sooo… as a newbie I am not sure if I should stick with condos, townhouses or go with single family. Buy, fix, flip seems liike the best way to go, but to buy cheap you have to be willing to consider very questionable areas and then hold to in hopes the area is going to turn. (which is happening everywhere here). So any advice you can provide would be helpful… maybe I should look in other areas and forget South Florida? I am looking at a deal right now that is in a great are in palm beach county, their are $400K townhouse going up all over, three complexes within two blocks of the duplex I am considering. The duplex is $300K, needs about $2K inside just to make it rentable to more than crack addicts. The house just behind it is on the market for $375K. So is this a deal I should consider? I will probably have to rent out as duplex and hold for a year or so. Or I could put 30K in it and turn it into a single family and put on the market right away. Any thoughts??? Should I spend $300K on my first investment? (Well second actually, I bought and rehabbed a condo by the beach to rent seasonally, that was only $170K but I got lucky finding it)
The luck of finding deals needs to be formalized. I look for deals in my selected areas at least twice a week. I search the MLS. I also have 2 realtors that call me whenever they find a property that fits my requirements. In Houston, a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car garage rents faster than anything else. I would look at the sales price (or rent) and time on the market to determine what sells (or rents) best in your market. I would then focus on that. In northern California you need to be in the $700k range to work real-estate. In Houston I am in the $80k range. You may find out that the $300k gets you that 60-90 day turnaround that you may find acceptable.
thanks for the advice bluemoon!
Bluemoon:
How do you get the MLS?
TIA, Frank
I joined a local investor group that includes realtors. They provide access to MLS and actual rental rates (not what rents are asked but what the places leased for) and same with sales prices. It has what the houses actually sold for not asking prices.
You are one step ahead of the other investors! Good luck!
Frank