QuattrOZZy

and if its too much of a hastle to ship it over...

GT28 my 1.8 a little quicker then planned
Rent.. for a year

and a project car, your choice...
1) 95 M3 + turbo(s) = 300-400hp Racecar
2) 90's alfa GTV-6 + Boost = Biturbo monster
3) shelby cobra 427 kit car = badass(monster)
4) RB powered widebody S13 = drift car
5) RX-7 ~ twin turbo Or turbo2 FC body
....then take it in the next Gumball 3000

i'd probably spend like half of it on mac or snap on tools tho

bassed-ndzmorezone5

The 2nd home market/investment property market has just about tanked from what it was for the past 5-8 years. The other big factor is ARM's were not at such a low rate in the past and the past 6 years after Greenspan adjusted the rates made a huge shift in how the market was working. Saddly more Americans jumped on the ARM than should have and forclosure numbers are presently raising at alarming rates. This is good for people like me and well you due to not as mant investors jumping on them. I am in Architecture and have family in Realestate up and down the Mid-Atlantic and I was doing residential for the past 4 years. Frankly even the renovation business is way down right now as well, which is a bad indicator for a lot of markets.

S4iowa

$85k

A4SilverT

You absolutely have to do this locally. Because you know all the dirt about the neighborhood, the schools, the freeway coming through, and the construction of local houses, you have a huge advantage over outsiders.

The lenders list the foreclosures in a local newspaper. The pros go visit these houses in advance, and in many cases may be able to talk their way inside. They go to the auction. Many properties are withdrawn because the owners cure the foreclosure. Most of the rest are bid on. If you go to the auction, you know which ones got no bids.

But I'm convinced the first category is easier for the casual investor. Some of the houses that might be for sale cheap but aren't listed are:

1) former rental properties that have become too run down for the owner to fix well enough to rent.

2) death of the owners where the heirs want their money right away.

3) an elderly person who can no longer live alone.

4) someone in arrears on their taxes (but tax sales by the localities are the most difficult of all to buy).

5) someone who has moved out and simply left the house vacant for many years. As unlikely as this sounds, it happens more often than you'd think. You just have to get the owner to sell. They're always waiting for a better price.

How do you find properties like this? Often by just driving around and talking to neighbors. Most neighbors would love to see rundown property fixed up and sold.

And as you said, if you're going to be a semi-regular customer, lots of real estate agents will be happy to work with you and let you know when they hear about something they think you might be interested in.

A4SilverT

But bank lenders have an alternative when it makes no sense to sell into a declining market. Although they hate to have OREOs (Other Real Estate Owned) on the books, they can hold the property and rent it in the expectation that the market will improve.

They can also do a work-out with the borrower to keep the mortgage semi-current.

So while I agree that the current market could produce a lot of defaults by borrowers, and while I too am looking for good opportunities, I'm less optimistic that there will be a lot of them. It's also the problem of catching the falling knife. It's very hard to tell where the bottom is going to be, especially in some of the bubble markets.

BJC::wokka wokka

E36 M3.

bassed-ndzmorezone5

I agree you brought up some points I wasn't thinking of or aware of.