All Forum Posts by: Ben Skove

I invest in this price range. I agree with the general sentiment - it's a block by block game, and patience is the key.

@Douglas B. , you might want to listen to @Al Williamson's podcasts and read his posts about improving the neighborhood around these properties.

@John Chapman High-risk flood zones are common only near the rivers, which is a pretty limited slice of properties out there. While some discount may be built into the house already, I'll look to push for more if I go for it. The house next door, a 4/2, sold for 34K three months ago, so there is evidently interest in the area. Your comment about tying up cash is definitely on my mind.

@Chris Adams This will be my third SFR. Evidently NFIP also backs renter flood insurance. Not being able to get the cash out easily or leverage the forced equity is a risk I'm trying to build into the bid, for sure.

@Liam Goble Thanks for sharing your personal experience - very illuminating.

@Brian Levredge This is true. I think I'm going to call the "for rents" nearby the property to see what other owners are charging and what they're doing for renter's insurance.

Thanks to everyone!

Hi folks,

I'm looking at a 3/1 REO going for $14K, rent comps around $700. I won't know the repairs until getting in today, but it appears in reasonable shape, probably no more than $15K.

It's mapped into FEMA's high-risk flood zone. The property is located in an area protected by a levee; unfortunately, FEMA has stated that they don't believe the levee would protect against a 100-year flood, and thus is still considered high-risk.

Given the house was built in 1875 and apparently survived the area's worst flood in 1937, as well as others, and given that the levee apparently protects against all but the worst floods, I'm thinking of simply skipping flood insurance. I don't need to worry about it being unmortgageable, since it'd be a cash purchase. It would likely prevent selling to anyone but an investor in the future, though.

In the event of a flood, I'd build up enough cash reserves from the property to either repair or demolish. I'd either strongly encourage or require renters to carry renters insurance for flooding.

Thoughts?

The niche I've found for them is the same as @Jeff Aponik : where there's no place for a conventional dumpster. A combination of no off-street parking and restricted on-street parking is a pain to work with.

Gerald, you're not going to spend a night in it like in the Ghost and Mr. Chicken? :)

I'm fortunate to live within easy driving distance of an IKEA, and went with their cabinets for the last rental. So far as durability goes, I haven't noticed any greater than usual damage to them.

Interesting article, Joel. Another thing to keep in mind is what sorts of customers Penske is serving, if you're factoring it into your long-range plans.

There was a link in the article that went to United Van Lines' map of its moves. Similar, but not the same; for instance, Chicago is a winner with Penske, but the state as a whole shows outflows on United.

While I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice, one of the protected classes is family status. I've been told to be careful in any wording that would suggest that families with children are being steered away.

I don't think the search terms in the OP's post do that, but it is something to be aware of.

I can't imagine that the city could give you permission to go onto private property, whether or not it had been condemned.

Any luck checking probate records for the deceased son?

@Andrew Tudor If you haven't already, go to http://cagisperm.hamilton-co.org/cpop/permits/address.aspx and plug in the property's address. It'll pull up the current and past violations on the property, as well as the housing inspector who's assigned. Clicking on the violations will give additional details on the violations. Calling the inspector is a good way to see what the city expects to have done to bring the property back into compliance. Be aware that if there are civil or criminal penalties in the pipeline, they can go to the new owner.

There's a difference between a building that's been ordered "keep vacant" and which can go into the vacant building program, and one that's been condemned. When the violation status goes to "haz abate" and it's "out to bid", it usually isn't all that long before it comes down.