not sure I can help a friend here?

I drove past a firend’s house that has been listed for about two years by owner. It was his dads house and is free and clear. He doesn’t need the money and has told a friend he would probably take 100k for it and doesn’t seem to be motivated but it’s just sitting there vacant so I called in to kind of see the status. I took a look at it and I have several conerns. My gut tells me just to walk away but thought I’d seek some creative feedback to maybe help with no or minimal risk.

It’s assesed at 122k and comps range all the way up to 140k

  1. taxes are 1300 a half (pretty high)
  2. Sits in a flood zone
  3. oil heat
  4. textured walls
  5. pool was closed professionally but unopened for three years
  6. bad layout, single car garage kind of in the middle of the house and then bonus room on the other side.
  7. just needs updating.

Maybe I can put this under contract to sell this for him. I’ve not done that before so I’m not sure. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

You need to decide if you are trying to help a friend or looking for a business deal. The two are usually mutually exclusive. The decision of what to do will depend on that answer.

Thanks, it’s an excellent point. I would hope that I could do a little of both so it could be win-win. He owns his own company and has had great success with that so he’s not hurting by any means. He’s just paying the utilities and taxes every year. I’m not going to take on this much risk with the market where it’s at today without some reward, so I guess it would be a business deal first and helping a friend second. He asked me to come take a look at it since he has seen projects that I’ve done before. I would like to make it worth my while for taking on a project like this. If I can’t do it that’s fine and I won’t lose any sleep over it but thought there might be a creative way to make this work.

Maybe you just anwered your own question? I haven’t invested in RE just yet, but for me, my gut is a pretty good indicator when money is involved. Maybe that varies for others.

if it’s been on the market for two years - even as a FSBO - it’s probably over priced, significantly.

and/or he has absolutely no marketing/advertising going on.

if he’s on a low traffic street with just a sign in the front yard with NO OTHER ADVERTISING/MARKETING - then that could also be contributing.

why has he not listed with a realtor?

Why would you consider doing a shaky deal in order to help a friend who doesn’t need your help?