Posted by TH on September 20, 2003 at 20:43:25:
Kristine,
Thank you for your post! The comps are there and it looks to be a good investment. Now maybe I will change my mind after a few long days of hard work. Thanks again, this our first one, everyone always says the first one is the hardest.
TH
Buyer’s second thoughts? - Posted by TH
Posted by TH on September 20, 2003 at 18:44:15:
We have just written and had our first contract accepted. We had viewed the house on two visits and decided to show some inlaws our pot of gold…Well, bad idea! It’s not what they said, it’s what they didn’t say. They just walked in and kinda looked around like OOOOOOOOK? They said well it’s gonna take a lot of work. Yeah, a lot of work…
The wife and I felt terrible and thought maybe we bit off more than we could chew. I see a doll house and so does the wife. I think it can be done with reasonal expense and we know there is a lot of work to be done. It was a foreclosure and the past owners stripped it down. I mean they even ripped out the furnace and faucets! Even the bathroom sink, shower doors and medicine cabinet are gone too! I guess we will tackle it and see how we come out. The price was $15,000 and it was assessed at $37,900 two years ago. It has a good roof and siding on it and it is not old.
Guess I just had to post and see if anyone else had been through this sort of thing, you know, taking someone to your new investment property and having the air let out of you. WE WILL DO IT! Won’t we?
Re: Buyer’s second thoughts? - Posted by ken
Posted by ken on September 21, 2003 at 19:21:06:
Have a knowledgable investor look at it to tell you how good a deal it is. If you don’t know one join an investment club someone would be glad to help.
Re: Buyer’s second thoughts? - Posted by Doug Pretorius
Posted by Doug Pretorius on September 21, 2003 at 10:37:23:
That’s a standard response which you can expect from someone who doesn’t know what they’re talking about. If a friend or relative happens to have an investor mindset, they would go over the numbers, not whine about how much work the house needs.
I had someone (not family, but pretty close) tell me that real estate is extremely dangerous and I’m a fool for buying a house and wrapping it. Then they immediately went out and bought a rental for themselves.
I’ve been making $300/mo positive cashflow with minimal risk from day one. They’re lucky if they break even on the month-to-month basis and they’ve sunk tens of thousands of dollars into the house — nuff said.
Re: Buyer’s second thoughts? - Posted by Jay(TN
Posted by Jay(TN on September 21, 2003 at 09:12:19:
Don’t worry about the relatives. Mine are the same way. Only those with talent or experience can visualize a property after repairs.
If this was easy, everyone would be doing it. Finish the job and let your relatives wonder how well you profited. Then, take the profits and buy another property. If that doesn’t impress, nothing will. 
Good luck,
Jay
Re: Buyer’s second thoughts? - Posted by roger
Posted by roger on September 20, 2003 at 23:37:19:
congratulations on your house,you didn’t think they would praise the house the way it looks now, if you think thier eyes spoke what they thought with the house in such poor condition now ,well wait until you fix it up then listen to them praise how well you’ve done.They can’t see what you see in the future for the house,LOOK ON THE UP SIDE!
Re: Buyer’s second thoughts? - Posted by Kristine-CA
Posted by Kristine-CA on September 20, 2003 at 20:18:52:
My concern for you would be not what the in-laws think (who cares?) but whether or not you have paid a price that is right for what you want to do with the property. You mention that you paid $15K for a house that needs a lot of repairs. What is the after-repair-value of the house. The tax assessment value or appraisal from two years ago is most likely not a comparable value.
Two things I would do: Get yourself some good comps from an agent or from a title company. And have a home inspection to determine the amount of repairs necessary to bring it up to your standards for living there.
If after looking at some facts and the work ahead of you, it still looks like a deal to you then go ahead.
Congratulations on getting an accepted offer. Now on to the rest of the deal.
Sincerely, Kristine
Don’t Bring The Inlaws To The House - Posted by phil fernandez
Posted by phil fernandez on September 20, 2003 at 19:12:50:
They will always tear down the property along with your expectations. It’s my guess, that assuming you did your due diligence, that you know more about your local market and the house than they do.
Question : Have the inlaws ever invested in real estate or done a rehab ? If they haven’t I don’t see any justification for them to even comment. Don’t let people who have never done what you are doing tell you what to do. You’re the expert. Not them.
Keep inlaws, outlaws and friends out of your business. Once you’ve made your profit from the deal, they will come around with the standard response, " If I knew about the deal I would have done it. " LOL. Ya right.
Re: Buyer’s second thoughts? - Posted by Scottese
Posted by Scottese on September 21, 2003 at 15:11:40:
Couldn’t of said it better Doug. The world is filled with cynics and people who just don’t know what they are talking about. They feel insecure by the fact that you may have a good idea or a good thing going, and feel compelled to tell you what a big mistake you’ve made. Keep educating yourself and doing deals, and the gap in knowledge, as well as wealth, between you and them will continually expand. And that’s a good thing.
I had a friend who needed some money, come over and help me with some small jobs I was doing in a rehab. His comment was “Wow, this thing is a real piece of crap, you got ripped!” and proceeded to laugh at me, I responded “Great! I am glad you see things that way. The world needs shallow minded and short sighted fools like you to make men like me rich! Had everyone seen this as I have, I wouldn’t of been able to make your years salary in 60 days!” Now of course this was pretty harsh, and you’d have to know the guy, but that just came out and it was right from the heart.