We are seriously thinking about taking the plunge. What plunge you ask? Buying another house as an investment property. The kicker is the specific house we are considering to buy: Steve's house just three doors down from us. Steve was a neighbor of ours who bought into the neighborhood in December of 2004 and wrecked havoc the whole time he was here. Come to find out he was remodeling his house to rent it out and this past December the house went into foreclosure.

Steve was the kind of person who would call the City on neighbors breaking codes (like putting your trash out a day early) and all the while he was doing the exact same thing or worse. Needless to say, he was not very well liked in the entire subdivision and I hate to admit, I did a little dance when I found out the house was sold to the bank. I know, it isn't very Christian like but I even think God was doing the snoopy-dance.

There are a few little issues with the house though. It was gutted. There is not a single light fixture and the kitchen has been demolished. All but one cabinet exsists and there is no sink, stove or fridge. There are tile floors in the enclosed sun room and the master bedroom but the rest of the floors are painted concrete. And if there is such a thing: badly painted concrete floors. Then there is the bathroom which looks ok except the tile around the tub is stripped to the studs.

The other kick in the plan is there is another house directly across the street for sale. Same price and more square footage but the condition is worse. Where I can see the outcome of working on Steve's house, I can't do the same for the pink house across the street. It has been rode hard and put up wet. Ohtobe like the pink house better because of the square footage but I see things like the kitchen which is the size of a postage stamp with no room for improvement. Most all of the windows are original and broken and would have to be replaced and that is a costly undertaking.

So right now we are waiting for the real estate agent to call us back and hopefully I can do a walk through next week while Ohtobe is in Dallas on a business trip. Keep your fingers crossed for us. With the market being what it is, I think this is such a great investment opportunity.


-ame