Just bought a rehab home today

[evergreen]

Today's war zone is tomorrow's revitalization project. Just like what is going on in places like Baltimore.

If I could buy the home for 1k, I would just let it sit there until someone came out of it. :D

If it was $1, I would buy the whole area :D

[Dan732]

I bought it from an old couple, actually i stole it from this old couple, and i think i can easily get between 15 and 20k by selling it to another investor.

My quesiton for any of you is....should i try and just make about $6k now, or should i remodel it (aproximate 10k) and be able to sell it for 35 -40K and make $20k. It would take me about 1 month to rehab it (doing it on the side) and who knows how long to sell it......im just thinking to rehab it to make me better at doing this kind of stuff, but i also like the idea of making $5-10k for doing about 3 or 4 hours worth of work if that.

If you can flip it and make the easy cash, do it. Let it become someone else's headache.

[chicagoshomeseller]

Try to save a few hundred now or maybe lose it all later? I really can't decide :'(

[kdhastedt]

<<It's your 2nd house, I'd sell it as is until you get more properties bought/sold, more experience and better at rehabbing (what you think is 10k could turn out to be 25k.....profit gone!)>>

No disrepect intended, Ted but if Black95gt wants to dabble a little in rehab, what better place to start than with a $9,000 house?  As long as he keeps track of his spending, the house is basically sound and he doesn't need to do any major mechanical replacements, it's probably a great starting point!

My two cents...

Keith

[black95gt]

And that is exactly my point right there... I mean what a better way to make 5 or 6k with about 4 hours of work.  I mean i cant beat that.....but like you say Keith  I dont get the experience rehabbing the place and especially on a $9000 house.  Ive done one rehab where i gutted the whole house....It turned out pretty nice, but some detail work that i could do a lot better on.  I would prolly do the same with this house, put all new bathroom and kitchen in, Carpet and paint, and a few drywall holes to patch.

Maybe i'll try and sell it for 20k and if i cant do that then, i will just rehab it myself.  I just need to make sure i have it done by the middle of August to get it sold before winter.....houses here dont sell well in the winter

[evergreen]

Can you do it all yourself?

You should move here and try doing that in August. I was out for 10 hours installing storage ability in a garage the other day. It was only 113 degrees out :D

Got to love Vegas in the summer. July and August are the worst. Rest of the year is nice though.

If you cash situation is not too hot, I would sell. If you don't need the cash and have the resources to fix her up, go for it. Just make sure your numbers are good. If you could sell now for 6k, I would make darn sure you will get 10k+ profit by doing all this work. Time is money. If it was only going to be about 10k and I could get 6k now, I take the 6 and move on. For me a 4k difference is not enough to spend lots of time working on a project and spending more money.

Also since this is a low level home there is not much room to play it seems, so make sure your numbers are solid and account for some overrun.

[black95gt]

Thanks Evergreen,  I am definitly going to try and sell it first. I will do this by calling investors and seeing if they would like to buy it.  I will start out for like 22k, but expect a counter of 15 -18k.   Ive already figured that the house will take between 5-8k to rehab.....The assessed value is 40k, and you can get between 450-550 per month in rent.  If an investor comes in and buys it for 20k, puts 8k into it, hell have about 28k into it.   Ive checked on comps and houses in the area have been selling for around 40-50k in the area.  If you dont sell it, then you can rent it out and have a nice 200+ profit.  

But then again if i put 5-8k into it, (Prolly take about a month or 40 man hours) and i'll have it done, have around 17k into it and sell it  hopefully for 32k or so.  But we'll just have to wait and see.  Hopefully close the deal today or tomorow.

[evergreen]

You just need to weigh out your options and iron out the numbers.

If you rehab it, you have another option, rent it out (which you mentioned). All depends on what you are trying to do.

Another plan would be to:

1. Rehab it nicely.
2. Offer it at TOP dollar.
3. Seller Finance the whole deal.

But that's why you need to get the numbers down to where words like "hope" don't appear in your financial outlook. Don't hope you can sell it. Figure out what the safe numbers are and go with the best overall plan (more money does not mean the best).

Good luck and let us know!

[jettec]

<<<I paid 9000 on my credit card at a rate of 3% up until April 2006 (This gives me time to rehab it, sell it, or refinance it.  >>>

I know I'm new here, but do you have a cash flow problem.  I see you are putting the 9k on a cc, but now talking about spending another 10k rehabbing, on top of the title and fees you needed to take care of.

If you don't have the free money to spend on rehab, then I would do the quick flip.  You then have the 6-10K profit, and can use that towards another unit.  

Whichever way you go I don't blame you, because 9k is still a cheap house, and could make you a nice return. just my 2 cents.

Eric

[black95gt]

I put the house on my credit card...closed the deal last friday.  The seller paid for the abstract update and i had to pay attorney fees ($315).  Ive bought paint and a few things already and it looks like i will only have about 6 or 7k into it after crunching numbers.  This too will go on the credit card.....So right now it is looking like i'll have about 15k invested in this house and should have no problem selling it for about 35k...but deffinitly would take $30k and run with it.

I am still trying to sell it before i get done rehabbing it to an investor but am having troubles finding an investor to try and sell it to......all the property management companies dont do rehabs, and the people that do, are not in the phone book and i dont know who they are.....Does anybody know how i can find these people?  

[jmarmole]

Ever check the HUD listings in Buffalo? You can buy a home for a buck! Granted you are buying in a war zone.

Have you bought any property in Buffalo? Or are you planning to?  Seems like if prices are these low, the resale values must be very low as well?  I live in CT now, any recommendations of where I can go nearby to purchase low cost homes for rehabbing?  I am new as well.  Starting out with a multi property in the Bronx, NY but that is costing 550K, still about $500-1k monthly cash flow.

[carlittle]

Maybe i'll try and sell it for 20k and if i cant do that then, i will just rehab it myself.  I just need to make sure i have it done by the middle of August to get it sold before winter.....houses here dont sell well in the winter

Sounds like February/March would be a GREAT time to buy in Iowa.

[black95gt]

yes it is, i had my last one on the market from nov. - April and didnt have an offer on it.....so now its a nice rental property