My First Fixer-upper...maybe

First, the property I'm interested in:

There are two houses on 1.3 acres of land. One house has been split into three rental units (two units have 2 bedrooms, one unit has 1 bedroom). The house was built nearly 100 years ago but looks to be in good shape. However, the appliances are OLD and the units need carpet, paint and some minor cosmetic work.
Both of the two bedroom units are rented out for $500 per month. The one bedroom is vacant. I have only been able to see inside the one bedroom, because the folks renting the other units don't have phones and weren't at home when I've visited this property. One renter is a single Mom with two kids and four dogs. The other renter is a single man with a rottweiler and a pit bull. rolleyes
But according to the realtor, the condition of these units is very similar to the one bedroom that I have seen.

On to the second house...its a tiny house with one large bedroom. The man who lived there last owned the property. He is now serving time for trying to kill his wife. Its been said that he was mentally ill, and from the looks of the house, I could beleive it. He had three dogs in the house, and he was known to leave them for several days at a time. I have never seen so much dog poop in my life! There is garbage all over this house, too. In fact, the house has been condemned. Structurallly, the house looks good. Like the other units, it mostly just needs a good cleaning, painting, carpeting. I do worry that I'll never be able to get the smell of dog urine out of the house--
I'm sure it soaked into the sub-floor.

So all this property is owned by the bank now, and they are asking 140K, which they will not get. According to the realtor, they are holding out for 100K. The realtor has told me that they've turned down offers as high as 88K.

I'd like to buy this property (Am I crazy?)

I have no cash, but I do have good credit. My spouse and I have a decent combined income. We bought our home about 4 years ago, and we have about 20K in equity.

We could do the work they need ourselves, but we don't have much cash to buy the supplies and appliances. We certainly don't have down payment money.

The bank is supposedly very easy to work with as far as lending goes. Here is our game plan: We tell the bank that we'd like to buy the property, but we need them to finance us 100% and lend us money for the rehabbing. Its a win-win situation; they will sell their property (which has been on the market for almost a year) and they will earn money on the mortgage. Of course we realize that they probably wouldn't give us a huge price break on the property if they give us all the money we want.

Experienced investors, I need your thoughts. What have I overlooked? Will the bank laugh in our faces and kick us out?

We would first fix up the condemned house and the vacant unit. We would give the two current renters the option to move when the vacant units become available, but they will probably leave because we will not allow all of those animals. It might come down to eviction for them.

We do expect that we will need to find 4 new tenants. We expect to collect about $1800 total each month, which would easily cover the mortgage, insurance, taxes, etc. Right?

One last thought...the houses are kind of close together, so there is plenty of land available to build a few more units at some point.

Comments(2)

  • KyleGatton20th July, 2004

    I would get a construction loan from the same bank if possible.
    Get a quote from a contractor to make the 1 bedrooms into 2 or more as they are easier to rent, and it adds value to the house. Also get the same contractor and 2 more to give you estimates on fixing up the place, and take a boatload of pictures to show the poor condition it is in.
    Meet with the bank in person, and show the estimates, and pictures. Then offer them 90K if you can still make a profit at that.
    When the bank agrees to the construction loan, pay yourself to do whatever you can, and have the contractor build the addition, putting monies in your pocket, and securing your mortgage. Dont forget to ask for a stay for the payments for 3 months so you have time to finish the build outs and get tenats down payments for the mortgage.
    If the area is that bad you may also want to look into turning it section 8 and getting a higher return for your rent every month.

    Good Luck,
    Kyle

  • pushcart20th July, 2004

    Hi there,

    regarding your comment

    "One last thought...the houses are kind of close together, so there is plenty of land available to build a few more units at some point. "

    a trip to the building dept should confirm if you can build or not...are the properties grandfathered?

    I'd probably start with new tenants. As far as the dog smell you will probably need to rip up and replace the sub floor, I am running into that currnetly with cat urine.

    I think you should get a contractor in there and really estimate fix up costs to malke sure this is a worthwhile investment for you. Good luck!

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