Behind the Scenes Work

Even though it appears I am doing nothing regarding REI, I am actually keeping myself quite busy (as time permits). As reported a couple of blog entries before, I found an abandoned house over the weekend that turned out to be a HUD pre-foreclosure. Researching more, I found the lender's name and address, and then - after a little more digging - found a local number. When I got home last night, I called the number and got a very cheesy voicemail. I say "cheesy" because it sounded more like a personal voicemail rather than a professional one. I left a message detailing my interest in the property. That was about 3:30pm, and I haven't gotten a call back yet. I may wait until late morning and try again, if I don't get a call beforehand.

After doing a lot of number-crunching, I decided not to persue the duplexes any further. I sent the agent an email thanking her for sending the deals my way, but that I was not in position yet to take on such a project. When I got in this morning, she had replied thanking me for giving her fair warning about cancelling our appointment for later today. She also said that the $109k duplexes are not in as bad a shape as she thought. She didn't go into detail, but it sounded like I wouldn't be paying up the whazoo for deferred repairs. She said she would also send me an APOD with the numbers she would use if she were to purchase the properties, and mentioned the tenants are "very established" and the area will appreciate quickly. Matter of fact, she said no other duplex in the area is going for less than $169k right now. That really sheds new light on the subject.

I'll await her APOD as it should contain the ARV of the duplex as well. She hasn't told me the address yet, so I can't really run comps just yet. However, if her $169k figure is right, I may be able to rehab and sell for a nice profit - even at a dicounted price. My biggest obstacle in the deal is not money (although I am short on reserves), is not time (who really has enough?), but my wife. Not only is she dead-set against older properties, but has told me numerous times she doesn't want to get involved with mult-family properties just yet. (Yes, I've tried to convince her otherwise, using examples from Keller's book The Millionaire Real EState Investor.)