@Amy Brocious I am assuming your husband has construction experience? They dont have any properties listed but I would call and see if they have any properties for sale, and what happens to the properties that dont sell at tax sale. Finally see if you can get a list of all the homes with code violations and see if you can work a deal on one. These are low cost entry points. I bought a house for $1,000 this way.
@Amy Brocious I am assuming your husband has construction experience? They dont have any properties listed but I would call and see if they have any properties for sale, and what happens to the properties that dont sell at tax sale. Finally see if you can get a list of all the homes with code violations and see if you can work a deal on one. These are low cost entry points. I bought a house for $1,000 this way.
Jeremy - thank you so much for the lead and the tips. That is a great place for me to look into and to start understanding the market and our options!!
Yes, my husband does have construction experience, he is an electrician and used to run a commercial electrical company in Florida, so he has been around building and their issues for a long time.
Thank you! I will check it out!
Brian - thank you for the suggestion. My husband is interested in finding some of the "outside the box" routes in order to get started ... I am just trying to wrap my head around it all! :-)
Most major cities have land redevelopment office (department of real estate) or your state may own properties they want to get rid of for pennies on the dollar. Check on that, usually you can do straight to their office and close on deal very quickly. With your husband's background this should be good fit.
Aaron - you are correct!! I just had this same conversation with my husband ... I am a worrier .... and feel like I need to know everything with all the risks beforehand .... he is more willing to make it work. I think that together we are going to make a good team in tempering each other ... after I do my research and due diligence! ;-)
I am a fix and flip guy, I tend to think it is easier, lower risk and more profitable, in the short term than rentals, especially if you can do much of the work yourself and avoid a lot of the labor costs.
A highly motivated person, or family that is willing to spend their free time renovating a house instead of watching tv or other non productive activities, can do a couple rehabs a year part time, in our area and pretty easily profit 15-25k per property. Thats much better than a couple rentals if you are trying to get ahead financially.
Thank you Dell ... I think that is also an option for us ... I think I need to figure out risk vs reward and where we will best find our niche .. and also long term goals. Right now we are open to our options! :-)
@Amy Brocious Can you do this absolutely. Will it be easy, absolutely not. Do most people in your position succeed? I would say no. But anyone who does the things that successful investors do often enough and consistently enough will also succeed.
Real estate investing is very risky if you do not know what you are doing. It can be pretty low risk if you know what you are dong and move carefully. If you buy a $100K house for $70K and it has solid positive cash flow of $5000 a year, that is pretty low risk. (assuming REAL cash flow not pretend numbers) If prices dropped 20% and rents dropped $100 a month, you'd still be doing pretty well.
You risk drops and your confidence improves as you gain knowledge. You can learn just about everything you need to know here of BP. Good Luck - Ned
@Amy Brocious I never but a deal I think is a good deal. Yes you read that right. I only buy deals I KNOW are a good deal. I know it is a good deal because I know what the values are in the neighborhood. I know how much it will cost to repair. I know what the rents are I know how much another investor would pay for this.
OK I may be off on what I "know" but I am not guessing, hoping, or speculating. I am making well calculated moves based on my knowledge.