Buying Property at 20% discount

[Wynn Taylor]

Some of the ebooks and tutuorials make it seem like getting a property at 20% discount is easy. I'm in the Boston area and there is an inventory shortage. It seems like getting a property at any discount is very hard these days, unless it's in distress. 

I'm wondering how others have gotten good properties at discounts. Does anyone have any advice? I've been trying to focus on better areas to keep property values high. 

Thanks,

WT

[Bill Gulley]

When someone says they want or bought at a discount, that tells me two things: 1. They probably don't know what "market value" means and 2. their accounting or valuation assessment comes from guru stuff. It is common investor lingo, it's also incorrect to assume you reached any % of a "discount".

What you're wanting is a distressed value and that come from either a distressed property, or distressed owner, or both. 

If you want to ensure good appreciation in a market with a low inventory, you will do better paying market value in a popular area, where demand is high. At least for a buy and hold.

Your market sets the type of investment strategy to be used. Without a distressed situation you probably won't be flipping much. You could buy at a market value and then add on or improve a property to a much higher value in the right location, those are hard to find too. That is "forced appreciation". 

If there is no low hanging fruit in your market that means you'll need a better education and understanding of some of the basic tricks, changing use, function, utility, market assessment, costing and valuations, that doesn't come out of guru books or podcasts, forums or blogs. 

The science or real estate leads you to mastering the art of real estate, dig deeper in the science........meaning the basics so that you can devise your own strategies. Good luck :)