24 years old, bought my first house last August. It's in a small residential unincorporated community. Has 2 parks, hair salon, bowling alley, community center, great school district, near nice hiking trail connecting adjacent towns, and is only 10 min from 2 larger cities for shopping/groceries/etc. Property details:
~1500 sq. ft.
3/4 bedroom
1 finished bathroom
1 unfinished bathroom in basement (I might finish the basement)
Year built: 1910
Property: .66 acres, large back yard with mature shade trees
Detached 1.5 car garage
Purchase price: $63,000
Financed all through USDA rural housing program
Market value (according to Zillow): $135,000 *see below*
Interest rate: 4.5% fixed
Mortgage term: 30 year
Monthly mortgage payment: $295
Monthly taxes and insurance: $255
The house is a little bit older but has had many important upgrades before I bought it such as a newer mound system, all new electrical service/wiring, raised and rebuilt basement with 8' ceilings (original was stone), and a fairly new furnace and AC. The reason that I picked it up so cheap is because it is in need of cosmetic updates. All of the woodwork (including the kitchen cabinets) is original from 1910. House also has original hardwood floors, but they are badly in need of replacement/refinishing. And the windows are original single pane (with added storms). I am quite handy with most household construction projects so I plan to do most of the work myself to update the house and make it more modern. I think that I can do most of what I want to do for around 10-15k. After I'm done with that work, I think that I could rent the house for around $1000/month (based of off similar houses in the area and the fact that this is a full family house). That would leave me a decent profit margin for a rental even before the mortgage is paid off.
The other option is to do a live and flip on the house. This would leave me about a year and half to do all of the updates before selling for a capital gains tax free profit. If Zillow is anywhere near accurate on the market value of the house (which I think it will be once I update everything), then I could make a good chunk of change there too.
What are people's thoughts about my situation? Thanks!
