Bought A Property Sight Unseen...Bad Move?

[Ursula B.]

I'm starting this thread to keep me accountable for finishing what I started.

So I bought a condo sight unseen.  Completely by accident.  I was outbid on a unit in this building a few months ago, and I was so excited to see the price drop on this owner sell that I jumped on it, right around Christmas.  Gave myself 2 weeks due diligence, but with the holidays never got around to checking out the condo. Nevermind that it's in the next town over and I had no clue about the neighborhood. I woke up on January 2 and realized it was the last day of due diligence, and I couldn't get to see the property that day either.

So we closed on Thursday, cash deal. I got the keys when I got in town on Saturday, and I was like a kid at Christmas. Driving to the condo, the neighborhood was great, excellent location near major interstates.  The condo complex itself was just okay, but I was still excited.

We get to the front door of the building, and there's a sign that reads "Merry Christmas neighbors! Someone is trying to pick your door locks, so if you hear anything call 911".  I looked at my husband and asked what did I get us into.

We climbed the stairs to the 2nd floor, and I noticed a note on the door of one unit that said the water was leaking and someone needed to call the owner. Obviously vacant, so I made a mental note to find out who owned the condo.

We climbed the stairs to the 3rd floor, and I noticed the unit next to ours had a Fannie Mae acquisition notice posted to the door. Took a picture to capture the agent's contact information so I can find out the status when we left (notice how I went from wanting to run away to being interested in two more units in a matter of seconds?!?  Whats WRONG with me?!)

Inside of our condo unit is fine, wasn't expecting to replace all of the flooring but that's no big deal. After seeing the appliances in person, we decided to keep the range and replace the fridge and dishwasher.  Fine so far.

So i stepped out onto the balcony, and the floor gave.  Actually, I only got one foot out on the balcony when the floor gave. The wooden railing was rotten and looked like a strong wind would blow it over.  All I could picture was a tenant falling over the side of the balcony.  UGH!

So now I have to figure out how to have a 3rd floor balcony repaired or replaced. I have no clue about the costs, which is what is freaking me out. Forget going to the HOA, they won't fix it. And until it's fixed, I can't rent it.

So after kicking myself all day Saturday, I finally reached out to some contractors to see if I could get a bid on the work. Hopefully this doesn't take too long to fix!  In all, I guess I still got a good deal.  Here are the numbers:

Purchase - $25,000 - $750 commission = $24,250 net

Rehab Estimate - $5,500

Rental rate - $700/month

Taxes - $700/year

Insurance - $320/year

Maintenance/Repairs - $600/year

Management - $0 (we'll manage this one ourselves).

HOA - $110/month

Vacancies - $725/year

So has anyone ever replaced a 3rd story balcony? Would love some ideas on this one.  And yes, I've learned my lesson about buying something sight unseen.  But I guess it could have been MUCH worse.

Ursula