These last few days have seen me in Waco, Texas. I was looking at a house to purchase. Why? I answer people, "Why not?" I have the money. I'd like to build some equity. And, why should I continue to throw money at someone else to pay mortgage, etc.
Friday was the first day I looked. Yikes! Every property except for two were interesting. They either were homes that people had let go or hacked on. Two of the properties weren't what I was looking for or in a "questionable" area.
Saturday, we went back out. Egads! People can be really cruel on homes. A few of the properties were repo'd by the banks and the tenants just let them go to hell. Unfortunately, these properties were too far gone to be worth what was being asked. There was one property left.....
This last property had potential. While not staged for a showing, the place reminded me of the home I grew up in. A fairly similar layout, until I asked, "Where's the access to the garage?" The realtor and I both looked at the rooms that had adjoining walls to the garage. First bedroom, no access. The second had a strange door in the corner. When we opened it up, it was a large closet. Then, I noticed a hole in the wall. So, we both went into the hole and found a whole other room. It was really weird. A door in the other side of the room led to the last garage. We didn't really look that far into the "extra" room. After thinking about the room, it looks that people who were in it (or another owner) took out what would have been a utility room and converted it into the large closet.
All in all, for what I'm spending, I believe the last property is the most worthwhile to put a bid on. It is in a fairly nice neighborhood and doesn't appear to be in that bad of condition. We'll see. I have asked for some documents that the current tenants have on the property.
