Hard Cash For Lifting/Moving Houses

[Zachary Pilz]

Hi, 

I'm seeking some general advise. 

I have zero experience investing in properties/homes and primarily am seeking first for my family but also interested in investing.

Recently I stumbled upon a potential investment opportunity that is a bit beyond me. Forgive me for holding some specific details back as I hold this idea close to me. 

Basically in the process of helping out a local college regarding their future expansion I was told some now public information regarding multiple homes the college needs to give away or demolish. The rub is they can't sell them because of how they obtained them but they can give them away. Most of these are historical and/or Craftsman style houses. These are not rundown homes but well maintained with regular inspection. The college has been approached by multiple interested parties but no one has followed through to date. They potentially be demolishing hundreds of thousands of dollars of perfectly good homes at a time to make way for new college buildings. 

We saw the potential and immediately started researching.  We started getting bids and guarantees from city government, Burlington Northern Railroad,  Utilities, Carpet Layers, House Movers, Insurers,  Landscapers, etc. 

What we found is that there is the potential to move these homes and have multiple turn key homes ready. We can move two to three per month. 

The problem is creative financing. It appears possible to obtain a hard cash loan to move the homes, however this has to be an investment not a primary residence. I can not to my knowledge use a hard cash loan to benefit my own family with a residence. I'm told there is an issue with seasoning a title. I am not personally able to fund the 8 or more homes without other investors. However, I believe I can personally get one or two homes for free and finance them with hard cash. In fact, I just started calling hard cash lenders today and left a lot of messages. 

My question is if there is a way to obtain a home through other investors or if I can use hard cash myself and end up living in the home fairly soon. I don't fully understand the seasoning requirement. I believe that once the home is moved I could refinance through a traditional lender which should be easier once the home is moved and sitting on a ton of equity. 

I'm just curious about how to make this project work for me and my family. 

Based on our research we believe that the 8 homes we walked through range in market value between $175,000 and $260,000 and would retain or increase value. We are being very conservative with our estimates of value.  After securing each nearby lot for $35,000 apiece in the same neighborhood we can move and get the homes turnkey ready for less than $60,000 more a piece. We believe the homes therefore each have the range of $80,000 to $165,000 in potential equity, possibly more. Great rentals. Great flips. 

So where do I go from here. 

I just wish I could get a loan for my family to do this or have a bigger investor make most of the profit and pay us a finders fee...in the form of a house. 

Is this a pipe dream. Seems like a golden opportunity for the right person.