My cousins relative is selling his home for VERY cheap, it's not in great condition, should I do it?
Question:
It would need all new piping, electrical work, as well as some plumbing to fix it up. A little bit of remodeling here and there too.
He wants to sell it to just pay the taxes off on it ($2k) if he were selling it to immediate family, maybe a bit more for me.
Should I look into it for more information than I was given? I rented a house w/3 other girls in the same neighborhood @ $400 month. This would be investment and a potential income maker in the long run.
Answer:
Oh Boy. There are a couple of things I to think about.
First, you are dealing with “family”. You state that the owner just wants to sell the property to pay off the back taxes. But whatever you do, document all of your conversations; and if there are any family members who are close to the seller, make sure they are aware of what is going on. The bottom line: after you put a lot of money into the property, you don’t want someone to come back at you saying that you took advantage of an old man, and try to reclaim the property.
If you are going to flip the property—or even lease it out, find out what the comps are for other houses in the area. Go to a few open house tours, so you can see what improvements justify the seller’s asking price. Then, after a home inspection, find out what how much you would have to plow in to bring the property up to par.
Finally, I need to comment on your comment: “It would need all new piping, electrical work, as well as some plumbing to fix it up. A little bit of remodeling here and there too.”
When a house is empty, it literally “dies” and starts to decay. You probably need to have all new water, electrical and heating systems put in. Unless your parents are contractors, this job probably exceeds your parents “remodeling” skills.
Good luck.
you would have to check the property values in the neighborhood and then determine if the cost to fix it is warranted.
It would be a very good deal. It sounds like your parents should do it before you should. Remember you have to have the cash to do all the repairs and can you get that much in a loan. I would definitely get an inspection done to just make sure what is wrong and not.
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