Good deal or bad deal?

[Joe Rohd]

Hi,

I'm trying to determine if the buying of a rental property could make sense for me. I appreciate your input greatly! Thanks!

Comp: Two very similar condos sold in the past 30 days. One at $500k. The other at $490k. Both were renovated and repaired before being sold. Looked really nice at selling time.

The owner is willing to sell this condo to me at $415k as-is. No renovation, no repairs. Looks very decent though. No major repairs needed. Just needs a new AC and heater, fresh paint. Kitchen is decent. Bathrooms old, but, work ok.

- I'd put 20% down: $83k

- Closing costs: I think they would be lower than normal, because this would be a seller-buyer transaction, no agents involved, no bank involved. Seller financing.

- Interest rate at 4%.

- Property manager rate: 7.16%. The thing is I'm now relocating far away.

- Cash flow would be negative: -$16.90

- The other option I'm considering is to buy it and flip it. Although I've never flipped a house and I don't know if the profit, if any, would be worth the effort.

- Schools: Good to average. Decent overall.

- Near a lot of workplaces, parks, libraries, malls, etc.

- 30-40 min from the beach.

- If I did not have to relocate this would be a no brainer. As I looked for something like this for the past year.

- There's also a high probability that I return to this area in 2 or 3 years.

Thank you!