What's the cheapest house you have ever bought?

Lender · Omaha, NE · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes

Humblebrag - I just bought a house (on 2 lots) on Monday this week for $1,000! It is in a small town about an hour outside of Omaha, NE. It is by far the cheapest property purchase I have ever been involved in. She is a beauty!

I am curious what is everyone's personal record is for cheapest property purchase and where it was located?

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Ted KaaschPro Member

Real Estate Agent · Omaha, NE · Member since 2017 · 112 posts · 62 votes

My cheapest home was 12k. Renovated for around 80k. Appraised around 150k.

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Ted KaaschPro Member
Real Estate Agent · Omaha, NE · Member since 2017 · 112 posts · 62 votes
4y
My cheapest home was 12k. Renovated for around 80k. Appraised around 150k.
13 Reply
Steven FiscusPro Member
Flipper/Rehabber · Omaha, NE · Member since 2020 · 8 posts · 17 votes
4y
Sounds like I need to learn some negotiating skills from one of Omahas Finest!! Im here, so I will answer the question, $110k for me!
7 Reply
Jody Sperling
Omaha, NE · Member since 2020 · 611 posts · 665 votes
4y
I"m doing a live-in flip on a house outside of Omaha. Got this place for $32,580. But the roof cost me $33,000 to replace. We're about $75,000 in and mostly finished. Cosmetic stuff in the upstairs bedrooms. Afraid it won't sell for more than $120,000 though, so I have to be conscientious.
4 Reply
Melissa McGinnis
Rental Property Investor · Knoxville, TN · Member since 2018 · 24 posts · 28 votes
4y
@Owen Dashner
$50K
3 Reply
Owen DashnerPro Member
OP
Lender · Omaha, NE · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
4y
@Jody Sperling holy crap - is the roof made out of copper???
6 Reply
Owen DashnerPro Member
OP
Lender · Omaha, NE · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
4y
@Melissa McGinnis nice! Where is that one located?
2 Reply
Jody Sperling
Omaha, NE · Member since 2020 · 611 posts · 665 votes
4y
Originally posted by @Owen Dashner:
@Jody Sperling holy crap - is the roof made out of copper???

Ha! I wish. Things I learned: The house was built in the late 1800s. It had 7 layers of roofing overlaid. Two were metal, the rest asphalt or shake. We had a bit of framing where water had damaged the integrity of the structure, and the companies willing to bid all had to have commercial roofing experience because my house has a flat roof. Worse, still, I got it done when wood prices were at their absolute peak, so materials were stupid expensive.
10 Reply
Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
4y
Originally posted by @Ted Kaasch:
My cheapest home was 12k. Renovated for around 80k. Appraised around 150k.

question it appraises for that but what would it sell for.. a lot of what I have funded over the years in the mid west apprasial and actual sales prices were very very different.
those are monster spreads if you can actually sell for that.. many of us who build.. will make 50k on a 400k build job and think we hit a home run..

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9 Reply
Karl B.
Rental Property Investor · Erie, PA · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
4y
Do you get the items in there as well? If so you can sell it and make half your money back! :-)

Cheapest for me was a duplex for $45,000. I put around $3,000 into it and I get $1370 a month in rent.
Years ago in my early to mid- 20s my business partner and I bought a house trailer and did a rent to own for someone who worked with us. I think we paid a few grand for the trailer; since my business partner dealt with it I don't count that as my own despite making money on it.
9 Reply
Melissa McGinnis
Rental Property Investor · Knoxville, TN · Member since 2018 · 24 posts · 28 votes
4y
In Knoxville, TN. It's a great property that I still own. It's more than paid for itself in 9 years of ownership and It's worth 4X's what I paid for it. I love real estate!
3 Reply
Zambricki Li
Real Estate Agent · Los Angeles CA + Lake Tahoe, NV and CA · Member since 2021 · 180 posts · 158 votes
4y
26k in Conway SC- bank owned. I've got it listed now for 100k on MLS, fingers crossed
7 Reply
Sam Ohanesian
Investor · Tucson AZ · Member since 2019 · 31 posts · 37 votes
4y
130k in Tucson, AZ in 2020. Worth around 240k now.
3 Reply
Account Closed
Member since 2020 · 41 posts · 56 votes
4y
My cheapest investment was also my worst (although that just means I broke even and learned a bunch). It was my first purchase at ~50k.
5 Reply
Derrick E.
Investor · The Creek, WV · Member since 2014 · 890 posts · 1k+ votes
4y
$7k for a 2BR home that was tenant occupied with a Sec 8 tenant who had two months left on lease. They moved out. I put another $3,500 in to fixing it up nicer and increased the rent. Collected rent for 3 years and then sold it for a nice profit.
9 Reply
Adeva Edobor
Banker · Huntington Beach, CA · Member since 2018 · 99 posts · 100 votes
4y
@Owen Dashner My first purchase. Cheap house, expensive lesson but worth it. $25k Detroit, MI
5 Reply
Owen DashnerPro Member
OP
Lender · Omaha, NE · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
4y
Originally posted by @Karl B.:
Do you get the items in there as well? If so you can sell it and make half your money back! :-)

Cheapest for me was a duplex for $45,000. I put around $3,000 into it and I get $1370 a month in rent.
Years ago in my early to mid- 20s my business partner and I bought a house trailer and did a rent to own for someone who worked with us. I think we paid a few grand for the trailer; since my business partner dealt with it I don't count that as my own despite making money on it.

I would take 100 of those deals, that's pretty strong!

4 Reply
Owen DashnerPro Member
OP
Lender · Omaha, NE · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
4y
Originally posted by @Melissa McGinnis:
In Knoxville, TN. It's a great property that I still own. It's more than paid for itself in 9 years of ownership and It's worth 4X's what I paid for it. I love real estate!

Dang! How is the Knoxville market? Is pricing closer to Nashville, or closer to Memphis?
1 Reply
Owen DashnerPro Member
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Lender · Omaha, NE · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
4y
Originally posted by @Zambricki Li:
26k in Conway SC- bank owned. I've got it listed now for 100k on MLS, fingers crossed

Wow - did you have to put any money into it? The one I bought for $1K is probably only worth $15K :)

1 Reply
Owen DashnerPro Member
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Lender · Omaha, NE · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
4y
Originally posted by @Derrick E.:
$7k for a 2BR home that was tenant occupied with a Sec 8 tenant who had two months left on lease. They moved out. I put another $3,500 in to fixing it up nicer and increased the rent. Collected rent for 3 years and then sold it for a nice profit.

Wow, that's crazy! Is the house in your back yard, or out of your area? Great numbers!
1 Reply
Owen DashnerPro Member
OP
Lender · Omaha, NE · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
4y
Originally posted by @Sam Ohanesian:
130k in Tucson, AZ in 2020. Worth around 240k now.

Jeez! One year and it's almost doubled in price - what a market we are in, right?

0 Reply
Owen DashnerPro Member
OP
Lender · Omaha, NE · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
4y
Originally posted by @Account Closed:
My cheapest investment was also my worst (although that just means I broke even and learned a bunch). It was my first purchase at ~50k.

We have all been there, that's for sure. I had one I bought a few years back for $38K that ended up being a horrible deal that I broke even (at best) on. What's the saying, "Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want"?

2 Reply
Melissa McGinnis
Rental Property Investor · Knoxville, TN · Member since 2018 · 24 posts · 28 votes
4y
Originally posted by @Owen Dashner:
Originally posted by @Melissa McGinnis:
In Knoxville, TN. It's a great property that I still own. It's more than paid for itself in 9 years of ownership and It's worth 4X's what I paid for it. I love real estate!

Dang! How is the Knoxville market? Is pricing closer to Nashville, or closer to Memphis?

Knoxville is blowing up, like many places in the U.S. right now. I'd say we're higher than Memphis but lower priced than Nashville but I don't see it staying that way forever. So many people moving here! I wish I owned more than seven doors.
3 Reply
Quincy Lockett
South Holland, IL · Member since 2017 · 374 posts · 432 votes
4y
@Owen Dashner
65K for a 2 flat in Dolton, Illinois. Purchased in 2004. Has only appreciated to about $100k in 17 years! (But it’s grossed over $250K). Some areas are strictly for cash flow only.
3 Reply
Rumen Mladenov
Investor · Newark, DE · Member since 2014 · 245 posts · 198 votes
4y
I got one for $25,199. Back at the bottom of the crash of 2010-2012, when the properties in that neighborhood were going for as low as $50,000 each. It was listed on Auction.com in a weird format, no time limit/first acceptable offer. As soon as I saw it listed, someone had it under contract for $24,000. I put a back-up offer just in case, and 2 days later got an email asking me if the back-up offer was still valid. Of course it was!
Renovation was about 20k, and it's been rented for the past 10 years for over $1,000 a month. Now those townhouses are selling for about 150-180k depending on condition.
4 Reply
Derrick Craig
Memphis, TN · Member since 2013 · 969 posts · 524 votes
4y
The cheapest property I purchased was a 4-plex located near downtown Memphis TN I purchased it for $5,000. I am attaching the video of before after $70k in rehab.. Each unit is rented average rent $525 a month.
Before
After
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