New to BP, New to Real Estate Investing

[Doug Wint]

Hello, BP community! I'm new to real estate investing and I don't have any deals under my belt, yet. I live in NYC but I don't feel ready to delve into this market for a first time investment. Too many cash buyers for me to compete with. Instead, I have been entertaining something and I'm wondering if anyone can give me advice or any other input.

My sister owns raw land outside of Ocala, Florida. She is not sure what the value of that land is nor how much she owes on it but she is underwater and wants out of it altogether. She lives here in New York, is a mother to three children, and her and her husband are concentrating on purchasing a new home for their family here.

Ten years ago, our father encouraged her to buy this land but never pressed her to do something with it. As a result, it sat, undeveloped, and has depreciated over the past decade (as you may know, the Florida housing market was hit hard with the 2008-9 recession). Several years ago, she refinanced to lower her payment down to the current $176.

Because the situation doesn't look too promising but because she is family, I started thinking about taking over her payments while she retained the mortgage as a way to buy my interest in the investment w/o being too involved. I would then work with our father to actually build a SFR on the land to eventually sell.

I'll learn some more info in the days to come and can then run some accurate numbers but for now, does anyone know about the feasibility of doing something like this? Anything else that I need to know? Your advice and opinions are appreciated. I thought that this may be a good start for me and my father has history in real estate investing (investment properties and flipping houses).

Thanks everyone,

Doug

[Chaim F.]

Hi @Doug Wint, welcome to the BP community!

You came to the right place. You can find here all the information you need to get started. Make sure to check out the podcasts, webinars and browse through the forums, they are very resourceful.

I don't know much about the Florida market, but building a house from a distance without any previous experience would not be my first choice. Maybe consider getting a partner with experience from that area. Just my 2 cents.

Looking forward to your success!