Rehabbing in a down market

[mx505]

I live in a smaller beach/suburban town in Florida. Tons of houses are for sale, many have been for sale for months. Homeowners and property tax are pretty steep in this area. I'm just getting familiar with the market and I feel like there are many opportunities for some great deals. What advice do you guys have for rehabbing in this type of market?

[Debbie]

I live in a smaller beach/suburban town in Florida. Tons of houses are for sale, many have been for sale for months. Homeowners and property tax are pretty steep in this area. I'm just getting familiar with the market and I feel like there are many opportunities for some great deals. What advice do you guys have for rehabbing in this type of market?

If you really, really want to rehab a property in Florida, I'd strongly suggest that you hold when you're done rehabbing.

Or, follow Jim (FL)'s way of dealing with rehabbing via sub2

[Ceres]

Mx505 what county are you located in? Tell us your location and maybe some local could give you a heads up.

I feel marketing, location and price is a key componet in this market.

In my area Citrus is common to see properties on the market for 6+ months. While new constructon is still beating prices down. Yikes. Know your market.

P.S. Welcome to the family.

[mx505]

Thanks for the welcome Ceres. I'm in Brevard county, Melbourne Fl.

[Jim FL]

mx505,
First, welcome to MB's.
We'll help as best as we can.

I know your market some.
Frankly, all of Florida in my opinion, one should not buy unless you get in for WELL less than TODAYS value, and rehabbing, well, not something I'd do unless it was to hold and rent.

There is one person who posts here, JR FL, he knows your area, and hopefully will chime in here.

I keep getting pressured by some outside forces to take on a rehab project. The thing is, for me, any house I buy to rehab, I'll need to get in for well under value, and not have to spend a ton of money to complete, then be prepared to sit on for MONTHS before resale.
Not a game I like to play.

The key is to nail down true value of any property you consider for purchase, and hard.
Take comps no more than 2-3 months old, and very near the subject property, and as like it as possible.
Skewed values have placed a lot of FL investors in some gator properties, and trust me, that stinks.
I personally am holding some I'm not real proud to own.
I'll make money on them, for sure, but it won't be tommorrow.

Thankfully, I bought right, so holding won't kill me.

Just do your due diligence, twice, and be 200% sure on numbers.
There are deals out there, and lots of sellers with pie in the sky eyes too.

You may want to gather a list of local rehabbers, and cash buyers, and do some wholesale deals, to build cash, and test your market some.
Not easy, but can be done with minimal marketing, and some driving around collecting info.

Good luck, and naturally come back here to discuss/ask anything, there are investors from all levels of experience here.
Some of us are rather gruff at times (well, maybe just me), but we all mean well and are here to help.

Take care and again, welcome aboard, this place is really the BEST place online for investors to network and share, pass it on...........

Jim FL

[exec927]

mx505,


You should be buying well below value in these type of markets where the values are decreasing or about to decrease.

A guy in Florida now only buys properties to rehab if they are less than 50% of value, minus repairs in this market.

[mx505]

Thanks for the insight. What are some other strategies that work well in this type of market? Buying to hold seems like a good idea, but the rental market doesn't seem very healthy here either. There are lots of empty homes with for rent signs.