All Forum Posts by: Levon J.

Hi, I've noticed an interesting thing recently - some houses are being sold for much less than they were originally listed for. Not like when you would negotiate the price and bring it down by a couple thousands or so, but way more than that. As an example, a fourplex was listed for $200k last year. A month later the MLS showed that the fourplex was sold for $135k. An important thing to note is that an actual friend of mine made a $185k offer on that house, and was outbid, so the $135k final sale price seems a bit unrealistic.

Here's another example, was just closed on today: https://www.redfin.com/PA/Pittsburgh/807-Steuben-S...

This triplex was listed for $360k in January, which was a bit above the market price, but nothing crazy. Price was lowered by $10k a month later, as you can see in the MLS history. And then the cost was lowered to $200k on April 16, and it was sold for 173k on April 18.

Does anyone have any idea how this is even possible? Assuming that the owners do not suddenly become philanthropists and decide to sell their houses for half the price. Which in my experience does not happen as often as deals like this.  

That's most likely right. The price difference seems so attractive though, I'm thinking maybe there is a way to find Chinese manufacturers, who will build a house according to US building codes. I wish someone has tried that here. 

Hi everyone, 

There are quite interesting deals in China for prefab homes - they are light, easy to assemble, well insulated and earthquake-resistant, and looks like they are cheap too - approx. $250 per 10 sq ft. And they look good - they can make it according to your preferred design. 

You're sending your drawings and tech requirements to a manufacturer in China, they make a house for you, ship it to your location, you hire a crew to assemble that house in your place. It's about $3-4k to ship the house in a container to USA. There's also permits and other fees, and the assembly price. 

So this is the theory, and does anyone have any actual experience in dealing with prefab houses? I'm wondering if that can be a good business idea, as the final price should be lower than the market price, and they could be sold for profit. 

Please share your ideas, let's see if this is a good niche or not. Thanks!