All Forum Posts by: Kim VanLandingham

Yes, right outside Detroit and yes, very scary indeed. This is my reasoning for "buy and hold". We have come out of bad times before but this one has been the longest with no end in sight with the continuing buy-outs of auto workers. But, I know we will come out of it again and in my guesstimation, it should be right about the time my girls hit college and that is what I am shooting for.

Right now, in my neighborhood there is a house a guy bought for 70K and has listed for 129K. Homes in my neighborhood were selling for 160K a three years ago. I don't know what he has into it but I don't think that it is much because I saw the house before he bought it and it was in decent shape. A recent offer just fell through and it's back on the market. I think that if that was me and there wasn't more than 10K put into it, I would knock the price down for a quick sale to make 20-25K for cash for downpayments on future buy & holds. It is almost what you need to do around here for a sale.

As far as your friends go, it wouldn be nice to get to know some local investors. I am just not to sure how cut throat this business is??? :wink:

Thanks Wheatie,

I have been looking at houses for the last two years. I was thinking of selling back then but changed my mind (wish I would of now). I continued to follow the market in both high and low end homes. I watched how many were purchased and flipped. Some successfully, some not. I have made connections with a few realtors, many who have kept me abreast of the market. There is one in particular that I could go to once I get off the ground. She a realtor for a builder and has 6 rentals of her own. (The builder is now going through foreclosure on some of his spec homes). I haven't mentioned to her my aspirations yet as I want to know more so she won't think of me as a liability. I also have friends that were once mortgage brokers and I plan on tapping that resource also. I also have a friend who builds condos and invests in RI in South and North Carolina. He would be my greatest mentor if we lived closer and if he wasn't so busy. He has many many RI ventures, including casinos. WAY out of my league but the nicest man you could ever meet.

I know this might sound silly, but I would prefer to learn all that I can myself, then go to the "go to" people for advice. I don't want to go to someone to "teach" me everything right off the bat. Does this make sense???

PS. I use to work for H&R Block so I am also up on tax consequences in most cases.

Great thread kracker, thanks for starting it.

Just was wondering if you could put the pics back on. I would love to see them.

as life in general may have been preparing me to do something like this.

Have been a work at home mom for 12 years after being in the Dental field for 12 years. DH and I bought our first home 12 years ago also (12 seems to be the magic number here).

The home we bought needed a complete rehab. Since we have been here, we have put almost 60K into our house with myself doing about 95% of the work. (Babies are great but I got a little bored. When the girls were 3 & 4 I had a hammer in their hands lol).

Anyways, I have done it all; tiling, drywall, framing, installed doors, carpeting, rough and finished carpentry, knocked down walls, installed cabinets, laminate flooring(I didn't want the added expense of hardwood), finished my basement (DH did the electrical although this does not appear hard to learn), designed and built a 20X20 paragoda/arbor for my patio (with some manly help) and installed a vinyl fence. I have worked with contractors for the new cement work, garage and roof.

Now that my home is complete and the girls are older I am getting bored again. During the last two years, I have been watching (studying) the market and I would really like to pick up a few foreclosures to hold for five years or so (college money). Although, I would like to flip the first one for intial cash to get started.

I am eager to learn the ins and outs about mortgages, landlording, realtors, networking etc. I am up on the basics in these areas but not the nitty gritty stuff. I am not a stranger to the pitfalls of this endeavor as this is probably what has kept me on the sidelines to this point but I know there is more to learn about these pitfalls and how to avoid them before I buy my first house. This is why I am here!!!!

There is so much more that I need to learn, I just need a little direction in which way to head first.

Thanks