Investor · Londonderry, NH · Member since 2015 · 163 posts · 59 votes
Hey guys
I'm in the market for my next multi family deal (2-4 units). Plan to live in one unit for 1-2 years and rent the rest out until I move out. Ideally something that needs some rehab but not structural or tear down so I can build in some equity. Who has experience buying properties that have been sitting on the market recently and can share their experiences. In a market where everyone is buying within hours of listing, it's hard not to think, how has no other investor jumped on this property sitting on the market. Anything specific to look at outside your typical walkthrough and analysis of a property.
Lender · Asheville, NC · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
6y
Ours is a pretty hot market, too. The houses I see sitting on the market a relatively long time are either a) over priced and the seller won't or can't come down on the price or b) they're just weird houses. In scenario a, you have to just hope that over time they'll come to their senses and lower the price to where it should be. In which case it helps to prepare yourself to be first in line. You can do that by submitting an offer now where you think it should be. If they eventually decide to lower their price they might reach out to you. In scenario b, weird houses are difficult and costly to work with. "Weird" can and does encompass SO many things. I've seen houses with strange rooms and funky spaces that people just don't know what to do with. Case in point: what appeared to be a normal 2-story house from the outside but we got inside and realized that the tiny, cramped central section of the house was a single wide trailer (yep, still had the axle underneath it) and they had expanded (with no rhyme or reason) on every side of the single wide - include building a second story on top of it! Or a house with an entire second story (2 bedrooms and a bath) with a ceiling height of 5'10". Stuff like that is costly to fix and sometimes the ARV just doesn't justify it. And then there are things like foundation issues that scare people off. They can be dealt with but most buyers don't want to take the risk. I keep saying I'm going to publish a coffee table book someday with pictures of all the weird things we've seen in houses.
Investor · Londonderry, NH · Member since 2015 · 163 posts · 59 votes
6y
@Bonnie Low thanks for your input. I hadn't thought too much about the "weird" factor. The last two properties I've had were weird, I'm just used to it! With that said, I definitely felt all of those challenges and they were costly. I need to keep that in mind and not fall into the same property without knowing the expenses to get it up to value.