Hey everyone,
I'm considering getting a foreclosure (or just a good deal) home in the Houston, TX area in the next 8 months or so, and trying to fix it up and eventually sell/rent it out in a couple of years. I may have some friends move in and pay rent for a little while, but even without them the PITI should still be below the rent for the 1 bedroom apartment me and my girlfriend live in now. I'm 27, have never owned a home before, but have no problems doing work on it. I'm a mechanical engineer and love learning stuff on the internet. Are there any resources those of you who are more experienced would recommend I check out?
So far I've been browsing Zillow and trying to find foreclosures in the $110-130k range in neighborhoods where the other houses are valued at $140-180k. Is there somewhere I can look at actual recent house sale prices? So far I'm just using the z estimates, which I imagine aren't terribly accurate. I figure if I buy a house undervalued to the neighborhood, it should help stack the deck a bit in my favor when selling time comes around. According to the NYT calculator if we stay for 2 years it should work out cheaper than renting, before factoring in renovations or any rental income.
I have about $20k I can pull out of investments right now without touching retirement accounts (~$90k) or my $5k E-fund. Assuming I save up for 6 more months I should be able to hit $30k while still maxing retirement accounts. I have excellent credit, and the house would be in my name only until the girlfriend and I tie the knot. I'd like to move into a house as the apartment is starting to get cramped, but would like to try my hand at improving it and hopefully making a bit of cash in the process.
Any advice? Resources? Warnings?