Military, Moving to Montgomery, AL; Searching for primary residence to flip to rental

[Andrew Heard]

Hello! 

First post on BP.  Long time reader, but first post.  My family and I are moving to Montgomery, AL for a new assignment with the Air Force.  We are looking to leverage the VA loan and purchase a property that has some improvements to be made, but also we have two little boys and don't want to get in to a total "fixer-upper."  Rather we would like to get into a property that has either attic or basement space that can be improved  to add square footage to the home.  We have done a live-in reno here in Florida and my wife does not want to repeat that process.  

Any suggestions on properties or neighborhoods are appreciated.  We are looking for something sub-$300K (pool would be nice too!).  Thank you all for your suggestions and help as we start this real estate investing journey!

Andrew

[Eddie Tuncer]

Hello Andrew, I am also a long time reader and it will be my first comment to your first post :)

I have done over 40 flips in Jacksonville, FL and a few of them had a pools in the backyard. I can clearly say that all those flips with the pools either break-even or very slim profit which didn't worth that much effort. 

If you are planning to rent the house instead, then it's a different game which focuses on the minimizing the costs —mortgage, maintenance, taxes, insurance. So you cannot decrease the taxes, maybe little bit on the insurance, and mortgage will stay same, the only thing left is the maintenance. And the pool will bring so much expense on the maintenance costs and liability for you. That's why I wouldn't advise you any rental property with a pool unless you don't have an A Class-250 unit multi-family apartment. However, at the end of the day it's your decision. 

Good luck with your journey!