Options for owning current home

[Danielle Christian]

Hi Everyone, 

My husband and I are totally new to the world of investing and flipping so please don't kill us with your responses.  We would like to start investing soon but we are working on building our credit and paying down debt first. However, the first property we think will make a good investment is a home we are currently renting.  We've been in the home about 3 1/2 years and think there is a real opportunity to purchase the home at a low prices update it and sell it in a few years.  The home is in a desirable area in a highly desirable school district but the owners simply don't care for the home. It was built in 1997 and everything is original and including the strawberry wallpaper, different oddly colored rooms, cheap appliances and worn out wood floors.  Since we've lived in the home, we know what's wrong with it. Mainly things are cosmetic but still costly and from what I can tell, I'm sure a new roof is in order. The entire subdivision has been having their roofs redone, so I can only image ours needs repairs too. Under complete duress, the owners put in a new but cheap air conditioning unit in 2017  and they have been told several times, a new furnace is in order. I know a formal inspection will tell everything I need to know. They simply don't care for the home and only care about the money.  We have discussed a potential purchase but they are holding out for a high number but are unwilling to do the work necessary to get top dollar.  It's a nice large home with a finished basement and in a top rated school district.  

The home was purchased in  1999 for $269k. There have been no improvements or repairs made on the home. Other homes with the same floor plan and square footage in the subdivision have recently sold from $380k to $493K. At this point, I wanted to make them a low offer like $300-$325k  and make all the updates and repairs myself.  

We currently pay $2430 per month in rent so I know we can afford a mortgage payment in that range. We have two good and stable jobs and I also own a business. The problem is that our credit scores and savings are low. We moved into this house quickly because three years ago we took in my mother who battles MS and our grandson when my daughter walked out and left him. He was just 1 1/2 at the time. It's been a tough 3 years and our money has gone to help pay for new expenses like home care for my Mom, daycare, attorneys and all the other expenses that go with having a small child. As a result, our credit scores also suffered. He is now 5 and will be starting kindergarten in the district in the fall so that's a huge incentive for us to stay and continue to rebuild financially. We are working on rebuilding our credit, saving and rebuilding but our lease is up next year and we would really like to find a way to purchase this home from these awful landlords. 

Like I said we are new to all of this so any suggestion or advice on how to proceed would be most appreciated. Are there any creative ways or programs that would enable get financing?