Just posting this was actually a draft from 2 years ago. Will try and post some additional pics later
So first Deal is done! It was a ton of work but well worth it! I actually found the house through a friend who flips, he was considering buying but backed out and let me have a crack at it. When I first saw the house the asking price was $25,000 (Was a Fannie Mae Repo Home and had went down from $45,000) After inspecting the property and seeing the amount of work that was needed I decided it might not be worth the cost to rehab so I decided to pass. However 1 thing kept me thinking about this house for the next couple of weeks, the land. The house is situated on 1/3 acre (corner lot) near downtown of a small but very nice town. I knew of some investors who were waiting for the price to decrease further (to $15,000) so they could demo the house and put in a duplex. So I decided to go ahead and jump.
The next morning I called the selling agent and discovered that that the price had just been lowered to $19,900. I put in an offer of 15 and after much back and forth we settled on $15,500.
I got an additional 15K for repairs and went to work. So through determination and a little help from some local contractors, Happy to report after 4 months of a lot of DIY work and about 3 grand over budget. It was completed.
Here were some lessons I learned.
1. You don’t need a lot of money or income to start investing. I spent several years working in volunteer work at home and abroad working very little in between. I was given a 30k loan with an income the previous 2 years of only $4,000 per year. That's no Typo 4 grand! And I only had to put up 10% on the loan so 3,000 upfront. Of course interest rates are a little higher but hey with a mortgage payment at $200 a month who cares?
2. Foundation Issues (on a pier and beam) are NOT always as bad as you think. The house was pier and beam and had several noticeable settled areas. Got under the house and using a level and a few jacks we levelled the house ourselves. Only took about a day and didn’t have to pay a contractor $4,000 to do it for me!
3. New windows are awesome! they will make your house look much more valuable. Also I will always go for Vinyl, Its a little higher but looks much better.
4. Don't skimp on Flooring. I went with Smartcore vinyl plank floors from Lowes. I had to put it on a credit card (over budget) but after a year and a half they are amazing. I ran it through the whole house (and put in rugs) and am very happy with the results. (price is about 2.80 sq ft but look for 10% off Lowes coupon online :)
5. Look for hidden value. I discovered after the deal was done that the kithchen cabinets were solid Mahogany Wood with copper handles after a nice refinish and some TLC they look amazing and are irreplaceable today.
All in all it was an awesome experience and am looking forward to doing more!
New Windows!
Kitchen TLC
Installing the floor.
