A co worker of mine I have known for years & years is building houses. He's giving me a deal at $240K 2 bedroom 2 bath 1700sq feet. Driveway, no garage, small yard front & back. Gated complex with clubhouse & pool. HOA. He has to sell 3 of the units at this price because the city is requiring it. After the 3 units are sold he's going to up the price on the remaining ones, 20 in all to $280K-$300K This is a pre construction deal.
I need to have either $12K, or $24K on hand for a deposit. Won't know for sure for about 10 weeks. If this works out I will already have a profit of $40K+ once they are done. And I can save for the whole time knowing I have this house waiting for me.
Here's the thing though. The area isn't the greatest. Not getto, & crime infested or stuff like that, but for FL it's not great. For the South FL people it's around the corner from the Crackle Barrel off of I95 in Deerfield Beach. There's a BrandSmart in the same area.
This won't be completed for at least a year. Looking at Novmeber-December 06. That's a long ways away. In that time the housing market may cool off alot.
I'm scared I'll be stuck in something I can't get out of.

What do you guys think?

 

how much are the hoa fees?

 

2 bedroom houses are hard to resell

Is it a house or a townhouse?

 

Housing market is at its peak now, IMHO.
Selling a two bedroom down the road with no garage will be tough.

Combine the two statements above and you have a bad deal.

 

buy it...and see if you can resell it before the house is even built and u'll make money on it...even if it is just 10-15k....

 

psst....taxes.

 

^ thats an idea. but as far as owning that long term

 

Based on my experience, Townhomes with 2 bedrooms and no garage are a great alternative to single family homes (cheaper) and they are sold pretty well (at least in Palm Beach County)

 

^^ Now, 2/2.5 Towhomes in Boca Raton are being sold for around 250 grand, maybe more. Usually buyers who cannot come up with such amount will look at a nearby location, in this case Deerfield Beach. The area you talk about is not bad; the only problem I forsee is that there are many rentals nearby and that will likely make it a hard seller. Also, 240 grand, IMO, is a bit steep price.

 

Can someone explain to me why the law woudl require that 3 houses are sold at a certain price beofre you can raise prices? That sounds fishy to me

Do your research and see what similar houses in the area are going for.

 

I have heard of this. In some areas builders are required to sell "low incoming housing...see www.hud.gov ". Before buying that home look into the details on this. You may think you can flip it for a profit, but can't. You may be required to sell it as a HUD home, thus you must sell it for less.

HUD homes look just like the more expesive house. You can't tell a HUD home by looking at it. Like I said, I don't know the details, so do your due diligence before buying. Also, there are income requirements to quailfy. If you make too much money, you can not buy a HUD home.

 

It's a house. But only about 5 feet between the next one in a line. Layout is a big U. They are all the same units. These will be brand new. Don't know about HOA fee's, that's not worked out yet. Alot of things are not worked out yet. I'll have a better idea on everything in 10 weeks .

 

Too many question marks, get alot more info ... or pass. There will be lots more opportunities so no need to rush

 

This is sort of the case, but they are not hud homes. The city of deerfield beach law requires this because of the zoning in the area.

 

Check out the dues before you get a nasty surprise every month.

 

I wasnt thinking HUD, but I was thinking are these meant to be sold cheaper to teachers, police, and firemen? cause a lot of areas do this kind of thing. They have certain number of homes in a new community that must be sold cheaper to people with these jobs.

 

zamo you a realtor or broker? My job (lender) is in the area but I don't handle Broward.

 

No. i'm neither a realtor nor a broker. I am based in research I have done with availabity and price of townhomes around the Boca area

 

Yeah I don't know Boca. I always thought it was pricey. A new house for $240,000 down where I live in Kendall would be an awesome deal. Especially that the average price for a single family residence is like $350,000 in the tri-county area. At least you'll know your friend won't half-ass your house and you'd have warranty.

 

Around Boca, it will be hard to find a property below $250,000 unless it is a condo, or a townhome sold "as-is". Check the MLS and get an idea (if you want). The area that fuzzy is talking about is sorrounded by rentals which are likely to lower its sale price. Now, he is talking about a 2/2, so I assume it is a townhome (if it was a condo, it will be considered way expensive).

Single Family homes are over $300k.

I own a townhome on west boca, paid $160k on Feb 2004 (closed on May), negotiated from $175,000 (i made a $10k deposit and got it "as-is" ~ fortunately it did not have any issues as the inspector told me, just $150 to clean the A/C coil). Its a 2/2.5 towhome, 2 floors, frontyard and driveway.

The neighbor closed a month ago at $255,000 which is insane.

 

It's technically not a townhouse because they are not attached. This is a PUD Detached which is basically a single family home with an assocation. That's why I was surprised on the pricing.

However my coworker lives in Discovery Point which is down the street from there. Those are townhomes with a 1 car garage that are 12 years old and are next to train tracks. They sell for like the $260,000 range. If it's built where she thinks, 95 is like right there. Plus the area is not the greatest and semi-ghetto. You might want to do a drive by to make sure it's worth it.

 

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=i-95+a...6126&t=h&hl=en

 

Wow nice find. That's close.

 

The area I'm talking about is a little south in that pic on the west side of 95, along that road SW 11 way