Potential First Deal? Arlington, Texas

[Riley Caldwell]

There is a house that is up for sale in the neighborhood that I grew up in. It caught my eye because it is For Sale By Owner; which seems to be much more favorable than through a Real Estate company. Am I wrong?

Anyways, the house is probably, by the looks of it (very quaint), the cheap house on the block. I've read before that buying the cheap house on the block in hopes that you can raise the value is a bad idea. However, I'm interested not in a flip, but in making it a rental property or doing a wholesale if possible.

I think it could potentially make a good rental property because it is the smaller, more quaint, older house on the street; which would make it cheaper. And, it's in a good location. A great, neighborhood ( a community within Arlington), it's quiet, has two good parks extremely close. It's within 3-5 minutes of the highway, under 10 minutes to the mall, 5 mins or less to Target and Walmart and a massive array of restaurants.

As I put in the title, this would be my first deal. I'm anxious to dive in, I'm nervous to dive in too soon, but also don't want to watch an opportunity pass by.

What should I do? Call the owner and get basic info? Asking price, state of the property/ repairs needed, reason for selling. Then use that to run numbers? Any tips?

I'm dying to break into RE!