Has anyone else thought of buying their own property and building on it themselves? I've been interested in this for years, but just now settling down to get the ball rolling.
Problem is, I know nothing of property ownership. So the learning continues...
Problem is, I know nothing of property ownership. So the learning continues...
Hell yes.
Joint buy a property to fix up and sell!
Joint buy a property to fix up and sell!
... sell? Why sell it when you can live on it?
you can live in it while you work on it
oh and i read this wrong, did you know i've had maybe 5 hours of sleep in two days? true story.
i thought you meant buy a property (as in house already built, and build on what's there).
-an exhausted p
oh and i read this wrong, did you know i've had maybe 5 hours of sleep in two days? true story.
i thought you meant buy a property (as in house already built, and build on what's there).
-an exhausted p
i guess when i think of property I'm considering real estate, or some sort of building already, probably a dumb assumption, but I'd usually say buy land or a parcel to build on. I'm dozing off here.
I don't think I could ever buy a house, fix it up, and sell it. spending time working on stuff is rewarding because you get to use it and enjoy it afterwards! money couldn't give me enough motivation to do all the work, unless it was like 2394823084029 dollars.
this post has been archived.
Correction: "property" should read "land".
spending time working on stuff is rewarding because you get to use it and enjoy it afterwards!
I just think it would be pretty fun to get a few guys together who can stand to work together and can make a working investment in an estate, fix it up and make a profit.
Is anyone else on this contextual page or what?
Sure eventually I want to do what phi initially meant. If you didn't know it's one of my primary life goals, and has been since the days of connex, legos, duplos and blocks.
let me know if you're for the investment of work and time.
flipping houses? that stuff pollutes canadian educational TV these days.
canadians are all about it, whaddya say?
My friend's family used to own some property in Central Texas. Bought it at $1,000/acre. Sold it later at $5,000/acre. Crazy, huh?
Also, an acre is officially measured as 4 rods long by 1 furlong wide. Here's a graphical representation: http://cockeyed.com/inside/acre/furlong_rod.jpg
Also, an acre is officially measured as 4 rods long by 1 furlong wide. Here's a graphical representation: http://cockeyed.com/inside/acre/furlong_rod.jpg
There is a very big difference between flipping real estate and building your own structures.
Building codes vary from region to region and any work you do will need to be signed off usually by an electrician or civil engineer. So it might make more sense if you know some folks capable of "helping you out".
Some folks make a huge profit flipping houses. My dad did it for his first 3 homes with his family and every time he made an enormous amount of money he was able to use to flip bigger and better homes.
In a city like NYC flipping is easy as long as you have the capital necessary to buy property to begin with. Most people however do not.
Building codes vary from region to region and any work you do will need to be signed off usually by an electrician or civil engineer. So it might make more sense if you know some folks capable of "helping you out".
Some folks make a huge profit flipping houses. My dad did it for his first 3 homes with his family and every time he made an enormous amount of money he was able to use to flip bigger and better homes.
In a city like NYC flipping is easy as long as you have the capital necessary to buy property to begin with. Most people however do not.
nny: I'm aware of building codes and everything, so I've already begun asking people around about where to go for good electricians, etc. Of course, I've just now begun saving for this ...
Well if you can do it... I highly recommend it. Flip it fast. It's a difficult thing to do and it is a financial / time investment with no definite gain. But for the most part it's a worthwhile endeavor and lots of people have been successful at it in the past.
I don't want to flip it!
Why does everyone do everything for money?!
Why does everyone do everything for money?!
phi_: because money buys vellum and typewriters
but, seriously, i don't know. money only interests me insofar as it keeps my stomach full and something good to read and listen to.
but, seriously, i don't know. money only interests me insofar as it keeps my stomach full and something good to read and listen to.
Money buys many things, but none of them can be all that important. (Aside from the obvious: rent, food, etc.)
...tuition, medicine, transportation, child support...
but sure wealth in objects alone isn't true satisfaction.
but sure wealth in objects alone isn't true satisfaction.
I think some of those are included in the "et cetera" portion of my post.
Okay, been a little absent of late. But update is that between my wife and I we own 5 homes in Michigan, each bought for between 11-24k. Fixing up the homes has been generally very rewarding. The rental income has been decent (600-800/month) though renters can be the worse people to work with as they can do a tremendous amount of damage to property and it is pretty hard to hold them accountable.
Anyways, buying and fixing homes has been a pretty big distraction from my PhD. Now sure if it all adds up in the end.
Anyways, buying and fixing homes has been a pretty big distraction from my PhD. Now sure if it all adds up in the end.
What are the general economics of these rentals? E.g average annual maintenance cost, property taxes, property management (if any), vacancy rate (average), mortgage rate?
Unless the maintenance/vacancy rate is really high or there is total obsolescence risk those sound like a good (or great) investment.
Unless the maintenance/vacancy rate is really high or there is total obsolescence risk those sound like a good (or great) investment.
Average yearly maintenance is really tricky to define. First few years I did almost everything myself or had a friend who was very capable do everything. Last couple years been overseas so been using property management companies and I would have to say that they seem to have eaten up any rental returns. The first fraudulently and the second, well we will just have to see.
As for vacancies, when I was directly managing with my now wife, vacancies were for only a few months or so each year. It depended a lot on the time of the year since we are near two large schools. If things continued close to how they were the years we were managing the homes then we would have fully paid for the cost of investment by now. So far, I would say we have probably gotten 60% return on total investment from the rental income.
We don't have any mortgages as we bought in cash.
As for vacancies, when I was directly managing with my now wife, vacancies were for only a few months or so each year. It depended a lot on the time of the year since we are near two large schools. If things continued close to how they were the years we were managing the homes then we would have fully paid for the cost of investment by now. So far, I would say we have probably gotten 60% return on total investment from the rental income.
We don't have any mortgages as we bought in cash.
what kind of state are these homes in and how much do you put into them to get them ready for tenant? are these total gut jobs (I'm assuming not) or do you vet the properties pretty well to try to get ones that only need cosmetic repairs?