What I can do with a little bit of money?

Question

Hi,

I have a little bit of money saved up, not much comapred to most people here (about 15k) and I was wondering if there is anything smart I can do with it that could help me turn $15k into 25k or more.  I thought about buying a lot and holding it (where I live in FL, lots are expensive though - some as much as 100k for 1/2 acre in nicer areas.  What would you do with $15k if you were wiling to take a risk and but something or use it as a down payment on something to hold onto, etc?

I may be able to buy a lot and hold onto it, but it wont be in FL.  Maybe SC or NC.  But not anywhere around me.

Just curious if I have any options - I know its not very muich money.  TIA.

Chris C. · Answer

Out of town vacant lots seem a bit speculative to me but if its something you know then go for it. I have started investigating some spec building, but not ready to make the jump yet.

I started with about 15k and used it to flip mobile homes.  It was great for building capitol and getting experience at the same time.  Once we were successful with that then investors started coming on board.  We now own 9 rentals, have flipped 4 homes, flipped I don't know how many mobiles, and own a real estate brokerage.

We are in the early stages of working with a local fellow BP member who is close to your situation, 15-20k of capitol.  We are discussing partnering on one of my flips.

If you need any help in the upstate SC area our brokerage specializes in helping investors so give me a call.

Anuj Sharma · Answer

I bought my first condo with 10k in my savings, so 15k is not that bad :-). Buy something like small condo, townhouse or duplex may be FHA approved which needs 3.5% down. If I were you, I would buy something in which I can live but also have future investment property potential so that if in future you have to move to bigger property like SFH, you can rent out first investment property

Jared S. · Answer

thanks so much Bryan.

Bryan McCloskey · Answer

Jared S.,

It's great to see you here, on the BP site, looking for insight to take your first steps down this road!

Some very good ideas shared here.   I personally think you have a few directions you can go...and one of them, in my opinion, holds more weight than others...so here goes:

1.  If you have $15k...you can learn how to wholesale...spend a few bucks on marketing...and earn some money helping connect investors and rehabbers with properties they can improve.  If done right, each $1,000 you spend can bring you in $3,000 or more.  (This is the way I started out...but...be cautious...because without experience, you can also spend a lot more than you make per deal in the early stages!)

2.  You can try to  purchase a place on your own, either through the MLS, directly with a seller, or through the tax lien/foreclosure process.  There are some great ideas above about this.  This will give you a place to get down and dirty and work to make something happen.   However, this may also pose the greatest risk if something goes wrong, you buy wrong, or if you run out of capital during the improvement stage.

3.  You can partner with a more experienced investor/rehabber...and use your time and effort, in addition to a few bucks, to partner in a deal or so.   You may not obtain the biggest bang for your buck from a cash-on-cash perspective right away...but the value of the right pairing here could potentially be priceless!

Looking back...I personally would have followed #3.I have learned my lessons...made some money, lost some money, made some back...but in my opinion...partnering from the get-go with the right person would have been a preferable route for me.

Just my 2 cents....I still love the fact that you have this community to learn from!  I wish I knew about it when I started out!

Stay prosperous!

Bryan

Jared S. · Answer

I work in the building industry.  I love my job and the company I work for.  So I'm looking for something I can do on the side, on weekends, after work, etc.  That can generate some retirement money later on.

Thx everyone for the responses, I love this BP site.

Jared S. · Answer

Thanks everyone, please keep the responses coming.

I am actually very familiar with the Upstate.  I love Greenville.

Karen Margrave · Answer

@Jared S.

Buying a lot in an area you don't know is very risky. There's issues the lot could have you don't know about, and could end up being costly.

There have been some good suggestions so far. Maybe @Kenneth Bell , who is a spec builder in the east, could give you some insight into costs there. You might even be able to invest in one of his deals.

There's also the option of crowdfunding. There's some great articles on BP about that.

Just be sure to check licenses, references, etc. on anyone you decide to work with.

Good luck

Mark Elliott · Answer

hi jared. let me tell you a brief story to help you. there are a lot of foreclosures on the market today.  in fact, there are so many, that the feds put a limit on the number of foreclosures that a bank can put out on the market because these houses were destroying the housing market in our economy. hence, the banks were forced to " sit" on many of them that they otherwise would have put on the market and sold well below value. so, te banks we left to decide which ones they would put back on the market. if you were a banker and you had 100 houses that you foreclosed on, 1/2 of them were loan valued at over $100,000 and the other half under $100,000, which ones would you put on the market? easy answer, huh? so, the others??? well, banks are actually " dropping" them. thats right, they are releasing their leins on them if they are in bad shape and the banks will never get any decent price out of them anyway, or, there is no way the bank will come even close to the loan value with a sale. so, they release their lein. the bank no longer owns it, is no longer responsible for anything that happens with it, and most importantly, they get another one off their books. what happens to these houses then? well, since the previous owners most often are long gone, the letter the bank sends out to them usually never reaches them. so, the house sits for a very long time with virtually no owner and falls apart. it racks up thousands of dollars in back taxes and usually winds up in the lap of the county or state for back taxes, which then auctions the house off for pennies on the dollar. here is where you come in, or even before. i have personally found 2 of these houses, and bought them for $2000 for one and $2250 for the other. of course you have to assume the back taxes and such, but in most cases, you wind up with the house well below what it is wort anyway. the house i paid $2000 for???? i sold it 2 days later for $10,000. the other??? i am doing a rehab on it and will make around $40,000 in it in the future. get in touch with me if you want the details on how to find these places.

Jared S. · Answer

Thanks guys.  I was thinking of buying a small'ish lot in a grwoing area where costs are still reasonable.  Was thinking around the north Greenville SC area.  And then build a spec on it later on.

What I can do with a little bit of money?

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