Is it time to try and make a move or should I wait?

[Thomas Rodgers]

It has been almost a year since I finished paying off my debt and starting saving for my emergency fund which is at about $8k now. I got convinced to take a pretty expensive vacation with my family this year which will cost about $6k which is gonna set me back a little less than a year from my goal of a funded emergency fund and a minimum of a 5% down payment on my first house, which sucks but is manageable. 

I have been scrolling through listings on Zillow and redfin to keep my eye on the market and to get a good feel as to what prices to expect and my current plan is to but a house that needs updated and to live in my first house to a year while making the updates to try and maximize the sweat equity.My spouse wants me to stay in the current school district which kind of makes things a little harder because its more of a rural area and there is another school close by. We are trying to stay in Madison school district which is close to Middletown SD but is advertised as not solely based on location which I still need to call and verify. 

I came across a house that is in that SD advertised as corporate owned and seller is treating it as a foreclosure and needs some TLC. List price $140k, 1400 sqft, 3 bed 1 bath, listed for 45 days. Only 2 pictures of the outside and it does not look too bad but no garage and close to a main street. All this to ask, is this something I should try and do something with? With the low down payment there would be much cash flow if any and really no comps to get an idea of what rents could be. All the rental calculators I have used range from $1350-$1050, Zillow ARV comps $150k-$210k. I was thinking about contacting the agent and trying to get some more information but I am not sure if there is anything specific I should ask. I thinking of asking things like what condition its in and if any seller type financing options are available to get me started or if I should still focus on getting my funds together and maybe just find an agent to send me listing in the mean time.

I am not sure if I am going about this the wrong way, if I should start going for things like this, or just wait until I have a stronger financial position. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Michael Paling]

Congrats on getting your debt all paid off. That's a great foundation. If all you have right now is $8K, then I would suggest trying to get out of that expensive vacation. Is going on this vacation worth setting your future back by a year? Your family should be supportive if you explain your situation. Maybe there's an alternative vacation that's much cheaper for your family. 

It really sounds like you might want to build up your financial position a little more. If you're planning on buying a fixer upper, how are you going to pay for the repairs? Can you get an FHA 203K loan? a construction loan? private or hard money lender? Will you have enough money to cover unexpected costs?

If you haven't yet, try to find a local group of investors. You'll be able to get a lot of great info from investors that know your local market.