I saw a deal... I think

[Katherine Waddell]

I am on a few people's email lists for real estate information. One of the emails that came in today seemed like a nice deal. I may have be romanticizing about it, but then what has happened to me for so many years happened again today, I was at a loss. I didn't know what to do next so I came to the forum to write about it. Here is the deal and I suppose a little guidance on what I should do next is what I am looking for. See below:

Cute 1960 ranch on nearly one acre in Nevin Community, 1,260 sqft, 3 Bed/1 Bath, lots of mature trees, close to RibbonWalk Nature Preserve, Minutes to I77/I85 and Uptown. Lots of potential with this one.

Median Rent: $875

Estimated Rehab Cost: $13k

Zillow Zestimate: $101k

ARV: $95k-$100k

ASKING $57,000

[Jerry W.]

@Katherine Waddell, welcome to BP.  I cannot help you evaluate this deal because real estate is local so I do not know if it is great, bad, or standard.  What I can tell you is that you have to learn your local market if you ever intend to buy.  You will not be able to grab a good deal if you cannot see it.  You might try hooking up with other investors in your area, you can do searches on BP for that, and get feedback from them as well as your own thoughts.  The first thing for me is location.  How nice is the neighborhood?  Is it getting better or worse.  Then there is condition of the house, will it rent and for how much?  Then I look at cost of repairs, does it need paint and carpet, or does it need new roof and a foundation repair?  What does the school district look like?  How bad is traffic near it?  Then try to see how much equity you can get by buying.  Zillow may be great n some places, but I have found it to be grossly off on its numbers in my area.  Do you have financing ready to go?  One of my last criteria is can I afford to buy it.  I have found that if a am actively scouring the area for buys when one pops up I compare to the others I have looked at and am looking at now.  How do the neighborhoods, size and quality stack up?  

If this was in my area I would look at it pretty strong.  The rent to purchase price is not bad.  I(f the location checked out I would probably make an offer.  Make sure you can do the repairs quickly.  Holding costs can really be a problem, especially if you are new to the game.