While flipping through a real estate ad a few years ago, I noticed a repo for sale in just the neighborhood I wanted. I immediately called my broker and we set off to see it. We couldn’t get in. His key wouldn’t work. Apparently the locks were not modified yet, and the bank hadn’t made all the arrangements yet. It was a 3-bedroom, single-family, with basement and garage listed at $35,000. Ugliest house on the block.
I wrote the offer at $30,000 subject to seeing the inside. We were able to gain access the next day. It needed much more work than I was prepared to do, so I hummed and hawed. The bank countered my original offer at $25,000. Twist my arm.
We bought it, renovated it, and sold it for $70,000. We had about $17,000 in it in actual materials. Our carrying costs are high because we only work weekends. The project took about nine months. to complete.