I know what you’re thinking. Jeff has lost it. First he made that decision to buy a pair of white dress shoes, and now he’s trying to say he sees homes that are bargains? He clearly needs help.
Let me explain.
For over six years now I’ve been a full-time real estate agent.
I’ve helped close to a hundred buyers and sellers with their real estate needs.
Conservatively speaking, I’ve seen over a thousand properties during that time.
I see good houses and I see bad houses.
I see overpriced places and I see underpriced places.
I see…wait a minute, let’s go back a second.
I see underpriced places.
I’m not talking about homes priced well below market value to incite a bidding frenzy.
I mean houses that are available to be bought a price that is below what it should be.
I really do. In fact, sometimes I walk into a home and think “Huh.”
When this happens, I do my research into comparable sales, look at assessed values and review changes in the market in the area in question.
Then I say “Huh.” again, this time making that expression we all make when we realize that something might actually be a really good deal and other people haven’t figured it out yet.
In some cases, I work with my clients to get them the property and they start their new home ownership journey already ahead of the game.
In other cases, it isn’t suitable for the clients I have at the time and we keep looking. After all, just because it’s a great price, it doesn’t mean it’s a great place for you. Buying a home you don’t want at a low price may make you feel good when you look at the analysis, but it doesn’t help when you’re living somewhere you don’t want to be.
I know the generally accepted wisdom out there is that you can’t find a bargain in this market. Too many buyers, too few sellers, if you are going to buy, you are going to pay – and your’re going to pay a lot.
It’s generally accepted because it’s generally true.
But it ain’t always true.
Let’s talk about what happens when we stop looking at what happens in general and instead focus on a specific situation – investors looking to buy.
An investor has, at most, two goals when considering real estate.
- How make money will it make while I own it?
- How make money will it make while I sell it?
When a property only needs to have a good answer for these two questions, it opens up the possible options considerably. All of the things that individual buyers who want to live in a home look for are no longer necessarily a consideration if it is an investment property.
- You need at least three bedrooms? Some tenants will be fine with two.
- You have to be in a certain school district? Some tenants don’t have kids.
- You want to be in a decent commute to your work? Find tenants that work close to this home.
- You can’t live through a reno so it needs to be move in ready? Put your tenants in after you’re done the reno and charge more money.
I regularly see properties for sale that don’t work for the vast majority of owner-occupied buyers. These properties tend to have been on the market for a while and I know it is because of an issue or two that makes it less appealing to your typical buyer.
The thing is that these issues can often either be fixed with a bit of time and money or they don’t impact the appeal of the property to a tenant.
These properties are more willing to negotiate on the sale price and are often more flexible on conditions, closing dates and so on. When you buy at the right price, you can make more money while you own it and more money when you sell it.
Sounds pretty good right?
If you or someone you like has been thinking about buying an investment property or somehow investing in the real estate market, I want to talk.
I keep seeing homes that are bargains for the right buyer and I’d love to help a client make a great investment that pays off in the short term and long term.
If you want to buy a home at a bargain, get in touch. I’d love to be responsible for what comes next.
Regards,
Jeff
ALCOVES
No homogeneous room, of homogeneous height, can serve a group of people well. To give a group a chance to be together, as a group, a room must also give them the chance to be alone, in one’s and two’s in the same space.
This is one of the lessons that we don’t realize is true until it is pointed out to us. If you think about your favourite rooms in houses or even public spaces like restaurants or bars, spaces that are single purpose receive far less use than those designed to accommodate different activities and groupings of people.
A room with alcoves, typically no more than six feet wide and three to six feet deep, allow a space to be comfortable for different activities at the same time. A nook to read while kids play in the centre, an alcove off the kitchen where one person can have a drink while the other cooks – these create rooms where people can do their own activity without withdrawing from the activity of the room or house as a whole.