Posted by Steve M on May 13, 2005 at 18:20:33:
Actually, that’s what I was thinking about all day today. Something reasonable, not that I need some mansion or anything, just a starter home, there’s plenty around where I live. But the motivated seller part, that’s the key, obviously.
Of course, if I make a profit off the house in a few years, I’m not going to complain.
Buying a House - Posted by Steve M
Posted by Steve M on May 13, 2005 at 06:48:15:
Not sure if it’s been asked, but is it possible to just buy a house, say through auction to be your actual home and literally pay pennies on the dollar? Not talking a cruddy house in some crime-ridden neighborhood, maybe just an ugly one I could fix up. I live in Wisconsin, and I read in John Beck’s tax lien it was a bad state to invest in them, hence I’m just curious if I could indeed just get a house for myself, and not worrying about turning it around or flipping it. Just fix er’ up and call it mine.
btw, I’ve been interested in real estate for about 10 years, but I really don’t have the patience a lot of people do (I even tried my hand at real estate sales), so I’m not interested in “investing” in the property or renting it out, I’m just someone who is tired of renting apartments and just wants a house and wants to start their own business. I’ve met too many contractors and dealt with too many “officials” to want to get into real estate investing. But I applaud anyone who does and is successful at it.
Re: Buying a House - Posted by Randy (SD)
Posted by Randy (SD) on May 13, 2005 at 11:25:42:
“Pennies on the Dollar”… No, probably not. There are a lot of ways to make money in real estate - tax liens, foreclosures etc. but they all take work which you indicate you have no interest in doing. Can you buy a house from a motivated seller at a good discount live in it, fix it up and possibly sell a profit yes absolutely.
One of the first properties I bought was on a contract for deed, $500 down and payments of $350 a month (I paid $32,000) I lived in the home for about seven years and spent a little over $5000 in repairs (remodeled bathroom, vinyl siding etc.) and sold the home for $69,000. So I had an inexpensive place to live, tax savings of ownership and made $30,000 profit when I sold and bought a new home. I couldn’t rent an apartment for $350 a month, if I was renting I would have little or no tax savings and my landlord would have made the $30,000 profit. The single most important investment you’ll ever make is buying your own home, since you are not interested in investing in real estate concentrate on finding a decent home in a decent area that you like. Look for a bargain like flexible terms or a discount in the selling price and buy it, you won’t regret it… I didn’t.