Thanks for the advice from both of you. You are correct in that we want a weekender to use and land is scarce down there. I am a Realtor myself so I hear ya! I have wanted something for years and this lets me get a foot in the door…baring any hurricanes which are a viable situation these days. Typically the property there will appreciate, but the enjoyment factor is my gig. We have friends that will use it who love to fish and there are ramps for the boats. There is a renter in there currently at 800 per month that I might keep for a while if I do this. One other piece is they want a 3rd down, but I would like to get that a bit lower and maybe do it creativly…open to ideas there…
I found a mobile/land. The owner wants 1/3 down and will finance the rest…any suggestions on how to get that deposit lower? It is 229K but will take less…or is there a creative way to pay that 3rd down…ps…I would get a sellers concession being a Realtor as it is listed. I spoke to the owner directly as I saw a sign on another property, told him I wanted to deal with him directly on terms. There is a renter in there so I would keep it rented for a while and then go in and do my thing…in the Keys…sans the price…that is cheap haha. No HOA, I can rent it to friends and family…thanks…
Re: Making an offer on Mobile with land - Posted by Daphne Lowe
Posted by Daphne Lowe on April 09, 2006 at 22:42:29:
It sounds like a decent deal with regard to price. I?m assuming you?re doing this as a land play (it?s long past buying in the Keys for cash flow). A lot of properties here have no (or very small) mortgages, so if the owner has no use for the cash (likely since they?re doing owner finance) an equity share may be attractive in lieu of a large down payment. ie. 10% down and 25% share of the future appreciation to be cashed out at some defined future date (whether by sale or appraisal and refi).
If your plan is to use the home for vacation rentals, be advised that many areas in the Keys have restrictions on that activity. Even in situations that are grandfathered, it?s tough to do better than breakeven (hard for investors to compete against homeowners who are happy to shave off just some of the cost of a 2nd home they would otherwise own anyway), especially on homes with that don?t have something going for it like a pool, control depth, KW location, oceanfront, etc. At that low price, you’re scraping the bottom of the barrel, I’m guessing you?re looking at a 70s-80s 2/1 SW on a dry lot in Largo. That?s not bad, after all, it could appreciate enough to warrant teardown 18 months from now and you could clear $75k for your efforts. That?s been going on for years, and very few folks have gotten burned. Of course that doesn?t mean it won?t happen in the future.
Posted by Tony Colella on April 10, 2006 at 10:20:05:
So in other words this is speculation and not investing. Not a problem, so long as the buyer realizes this and understands the limits (and dangers) of having only one exit strategy.
We have all seen too many folks get burned by buying “a great deal” from a realtor who insists that this property will appreciate.
If he wants to speculate while using the property as a second, vacation home for family and friends then this is a fine use of his money providing of course that he can afford it and will use it enough to enjoy the costs and more importantly opportunity costs of parking his money there.
Certainly this gets better the more exits he has such as rental, subdivide, time share etc. that may be allowable but for me this reads more like he is buying a vacation home that he hopes will appreciate in time to more than offset his costs. It very well may but it is not a true investment vehicle in my opinion. Vacation speculation sounds more accurate. Not bad as long as he goes in eyes wide open.
must be in a very nice section of town… how do you break even on your cash flow as TOny ask? here in ga, you couldn’t rent the governers mansion for over $12oo dollars a month