All Forum Posts by: Seneca Stephens

Found a slightly odd update to those properties now trying to figure how much of a difference the approach would be.

Property 1: Owned by a finance company as far as I can tell from looking up a bit of tax info on it.

Property 2: I think I missed the boat on this one unfortunately

Property 3: Delinquent taxes for a number of years, according to the assessors' website it's in foreclosure

Property 4:  The one I mentioned in my prior post is in the same situation as property 3

I'm wondering about that too, I've found 4 around me, three out of four look like minor rehab (exterior, two need front gutters replaced) and the last is boarded up could be a nice house for a flip if I could get it cheap and find a buyer

Just drove past a fourth, brick exterior but the doors and windows are boarded up.  I'm thinking possible wholesale or flip since two other houses very close (one two houses down and one across the street were both rehabed, look good and people are living in those.

Something about BP (it's gift and curse lol) that makes you want to look into every single property you see and question what can become of it.

I thought about this Sunday while I was walking my dog and noticed three separate SFR's that may or may not be abandoned, plus my funds are limited at the moment to make a move so I'll pose the question what would you do considering the three scenarios.

Property 1: This one actually has a FSBO sign in front but it has been out for so long that you can't make out the name or number that was once written on it. From the outside it doesn't look in bad condition (brick exterior). I noticed there tends to be a car in that driveway, but I'm pretty sure it's one of the neighbor's cars cause the lights are never on, and there's nothing in front of the windows at the front of the house. It has a fenced in back yard (chain link) though given the property size and the size of the house there isn't much yard to speak of.

Property 2:  Looks as though no one lives there, though the grass is cut every so often (has gotten quite high last summer a few times).  The gutter is partially torn off at the front and someone has knocked the mailbox down (the mailbox and post look like they need to be replaced since it's in poor condition).  Beyond that nothing too damaging, again exterior only at this time.

Property 3:  Pretty sure this one is abandoned or at least on one is taking care of the exterior.  There's a tree in the front of this house that is pretty well growing up against the house (been that way for I think two years now).  At first it wasn't bad, just a minor bit of growth on the house but now it's tearing the gutters off the front so at very least getting that tree cut down and replacing the gutters would make a world of difference to the appearance of the house.  Given the area it's on a pretty decent size lot with a fenced in back yard (chain link)

I wish I could explain more about each property but that's all that I can get from a walk-by and not actually snapping pictures.

Fear and doubt are the killer pair to most any business venture.

Do I know enough about my niche? 

Did I research the deal well enough? 

Will I have the funds to pull the trigger? 

What will happen if this doesn't go well? 

How many more experienced investors will think I'm a idiot for asking some "obvious" questions?

Not all my questions personally (the funding and the what if things go south are my biggest, mostly funding) but these are just a few of probably countless questions people will ask themselves as they try to navigate REI or any other type of venture. Unfortunately life itself is a game where trying something is essential if you want anything from it. So failure to make a choice is still a choice.

Such a "magical" home has been turned so normal, how could you lol?!?

I couldn't resist, the before pictures made me think medieval fantasy castle, something that a young kid would enjoy as their clubhouse for a few months.  Seeing the after rehab pictures it doesn't look like a rehab, more like you somehow replaced some child's clubhouse with a normal home. 

Kyle and Jeff got it spot on as far as reporting the gross rental income and being able to deduct the expense you've incurred with said rental throughout the year.

My headache thought just came on the "if" factor so I wondered what other's experience has been on the matter.  The question in general came to me because I've noticed three houses on my street, two within walking distance (one I've walked by numerous times walking my dog) and one relatively close all for sale and one is already being rented out.  Unfortunately I'm not at the point to try to snag these properties just yet, but knowing that they are still up for sale leaves my mind wandering.

Has anyone ever bought a rental property near their primary residence?  By near I mean in their neighborhood or within say 5 minutes.  I just have this feeling that it becomes far more headache than it would be worth especially if it's within the neighborhood. 

Credit repair should come first since bad credit will only make getting a loan harder.  If it's just debt that you know about and can get under control, use the tax refund to pay on those.  Just a suggestion cause I use it too, set up an account on Credit Karma so you can see what's damaging your credit so you can start the steps to recovery.