My husband and I are currently renting in a small New England city, in a historical neighborhood just blocks from downtown. Our rent is $850/month.
Our long-term goal is to buy a multi-family fixer-upper in our same neighborhood, and live in one half while renting out the other, until we can save enough to buy a single family.
Trouble is, it looks like the dream opportunity just came available... only it's about a year or so ahead of schedule. Here's the info:
Multi-family house (2 units, both 2 bedrooms)
Built in 1910 (definitely will need a lot of work, we're not sure of the extent yet)
Estimated value at $160,000
Listed for $89,000
Annual taxes are $3900
Available to investors only
On our same street (so we already know and love the neighborhood)
Here's where we stand:
Husband owns his own landscaping/asphalt maintenance company - in the early stages and growing, but no consistent income yet
Husband has construction skills, so he would be able to do a lot of the rehab himself (now is the perfect time as his work is dying down for the season)
I work in property management at an apartment complex, so I could handle the management/rental side of it
I earn 33k/year + $400-1200 monthly commissions
We have total of $25,000 in accessible roth-ira funds (contributions) that we could drain if necessary
Only have $3000 in cash savings
We have friends in the real estate investment world that got started by working with loan-sharks. We're considering going this route, as we would not qualify as "investors" to purchase the property any other way. We would get the money from a loan-shark, make the necessary repairs, then approach banks for a mortgage so we can pay off the loan.
We're still just day-dreaming and toying with the idea. Any thoughts or experience with this sort of thing?