HGtv is great! I love those shows. I also love how EASY they make home renovations seem. Look, I’m all for home renovations, but you’ve got to have the right kind of perspective – not everything is as quick and simple as it seems.
I get numerous calls from home buyers and real estate investors in Green Bay that say they want to flip a property. Usually, they have stars in their eyes about a house that will be 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, perfectly sound in every way, but that maybe needs paint. Oh, and is around $50k. That is NOT going to happen. I find great deals on real estate, but deals like that are a fantasy. When I gently, but firmly, burst the would be investor’s bubble, the response I get is something like, “What do you mean? That doesn’t sound right.”
People looking to buy a home can still find awesome deals, but, not like that.
One of the latest deals I found was a cute Bungalow style home on the west side of Green Bay, Wisocnsin. It was a foreclosure home going for $45k. The house hass 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, is less than 1000 square feet and built in 1918. It was home sale purchase price was $42K and change. What exactly did this particular house need? $20k worth of home renovations and repairs that included: new roof, new siding (that one wasn’t necessary, but really added to the home’s curb appeal), appliances (including washer and dryer), light fixtures, new windows, re-finishing some hardwood floors, all interior painting (trim and doors too), a new garage door opener mechanism, and a new sump pump. The buyer of that piece of real estate could have potentially sold that home for close to $85k in the current Green Bay housing market — that was what my comps came around to anyway. But they decided to hold onto it and rent it out. This real estate investor currently makes a 12% annual return.
To that home buyer (and me), that was an AWESOME deal. I also had been watching the market for them for around 5 months before that little gem came across my path. The buyer put in a lot of work and extra money – but it was worth it.
Long story short: HGtv is great, but unrealistic especially in the Green Bay and De Pere area. Listen to your real estate agent when they give you proper advise, and be patient!