House Hunting

Well Hi There!!!

I am soooo excited because I came up with a plan to make $$$$ and it seems to be materializing!!!  EEEeeeeeeee!!!!!  The thought I pondered was to take a small amount of cash ($15,000) and somehow invest it to make a profit.   I have a Roth IRA; I wanted something of a more hands on investment.  I wanted an exciting project that will be good for the community, as well as myself.  Soo, I came up with a plan to buy a fixer upper house, fix it up, and then sell it for a profit.  Now I realize this is not a new concept by no means, but it is something new for me.  I've never flipped a house before.  I've never bought a place strictly for an investment, until now!  ;-)

I realize buying a house to flip is somewhat of a gamble.  What investment doesn't have risk?

After extensively pondering the thought of buying an investment property, I decided on the amount of money that I felt comfortable gambling with.  The number came out to be $15,000. 

Properties in that price range do exist. :-)

I checked out several properties that were under $30,000.  The blue house in Laporte was my favorite, and had a listing price of only $17,900.

As I walked though the place, I could picture myself making the necessary repairs.

A little tlc, a lot of bleach, a new roof, and the place would be as good as new.

The basement didn't look all that bad.

Yes, the ceiling was falling down in a bathroom-- we could just keep that door shut.  :-)

The other ceilings were just fine as long as ya don't mind a little mold.  Hey now, for under $30,000, I wasn't shocked to find that all the old plaster was falling down.

Since dry walling isn't that much fun for me, I decided to pass on blue house.  Yellow house, the first house I checked out, was kinda neat, except for every floor was extremely uneven.  The next house seemed like a fun demolition project:

If there is one thing I am good at, it's tearing stuff up.  I could buy this acre lot, scrap what I could of the burnt house, and make the lot look all pretty and nice for someone to build a home on.

 

I may even be able to use the same well and septic.  I put my thoughts to this property in number form on paper and the potential for profit, sadly wasn't very impressive.

 

How could I pass up viewing a little cabin on a lake?

The cabin hut didn't have a heat, a tub or a shower, but was just as charming as could be. 

Imagine if you will, two gazebos build next to one another and connected by a small porch-- that is this place.  Two rooms and a porch on .3 of an acre, a few blocks from a lake all for only $27,000.

Sink holes make things interesting, don't they?

I bought the sink hole place in hopes that concrete and elbow grease can do wonders.

Concrete, lots of cleaning, and paint, will be just what the doctor ordered for the house I bought.

The house is not my favorite by no means, but the potential I envisioned had sold me on it.

Except for one minor sink hole, the place is solid.

Overall, this is what I choose because it matched my skill sets the best and the numbers worked out to be very favorable.  Yes, it reeks of a mix of cigarette smoke and cat pee, and could be collapsing into a sink hole.  Life is a gamble, folk's.

My second choice that day, was a nice garage, and a house with two sets of living quarters.

The house has a foundation that is collapsing, not to mention it needs a ton of structural work.  I passed.  One house at a time, for now.

The hardest part in this process, so far, has been the waiting.  I like to think of myself as a patient person, but found it very difficult to wait for my bid to be accepted.  I bought the sink hole house for $12,000!!!!  The owners accepted my first and only offer right off the bat!  I thought my offer was soo low that it seemed somewhat embarrassing!!!  Now, it's more waiting; even though it's a cash deal, title work must be processed and the tenants must move out.  The realtor expects closing to occur in less than ten days.  I can hardly wait!