I have a friend that owns several rental houses. He buys them then rents them to people for a few years. After he has collected enough rent to get his money back , if the tenant has paid rent on time and proved to be a good credit risk,he then offers to sell them the home for no money down and he owner finances it. He has done extremely well doing it this way. He has never had to foreclose on one so far. And it gives him income off the house for the next 30 years without having to keep repairs up.

I will say this is lower income housing that he is doing it with.

If I may ask
What was the purchase price? What was your income at the time of purchase?

Not saying they don’t exist but small/1,100sqft houses that are in decent/safe’ish neighborhoods are quite uncommon when speaking broadly in 2023

Achieving the status of Slumlord is nothing new and certainly nothing new in Birmingham.

The problem is ultimately this is a cash flow only business. The property never appreciates in value much if at all. So while you might be getting checks from the government think about this... your house went up in value right or wrong over the last several years. That crappy property they own in the hood didn't move much. If you believe you don't lose money until you sell the property that might not seem like such a big deal but it is a bad investment.

There is no free ride. Some people make money in that business but not knowing anything about Irish's neighbors other than what was posted on this thread they won't come out ahead. The ones that come out ahead in that game would be the ones that leave the house every morning with a truck full of tools and come back at dark dirty and tired.

The house next door to us sold earlier this year for $155K. It is about 1100/1200 SF with 1-1/2 baths and 3 bedrooms. 1960s build. Safe neighborhood. The entire inside was redone by the realtor after the last tenant.

Yep, have a friend that just bought a 70yo, 2br, 1 bath 1100sf house for $150k. Good neighborhood. Put another $20k in it. Idk if they'll get it back?

I would think a young couple who graduated from college or studied for a trade could afford this home no problem. One of the biggest issues with the under 25 year old crowd is expectations. They want a standard of living they cannot afford. Many of us started in a single wide trailer with a new born baby and one vehicle.

It's an older couple that has one of them mother living with them. They bought it to get our of Montgomery.

Lots of truth to that. Section 8 tenants are also typically the worse.

maybe the place of the next big fire, going to 15min city.

I’m 43 and have started over in a single wide with my wife 2 kids. I realize everyone’s situation is different but we are living on a tight budget with paid for vehicles. FYI just the trailer cost 90K (purchased 2022)not counting all the other setup expense. Wife has a good job and I’ve got a poultry farm on 150 acres. I’m thankful to my god and content but just wondering when my family will be able to afford to build a modest home. I ride around and wonder how these younger family’s make enough money to sustain these lifestyles. It makes me physically ill to think about trying to build a house or buying a new vehicle. To each his own, I just can’t understand it. Trying to stay in my lane and pray for guidance/wisdom.

I would think a young couple who graduated from college or studied for a trade could afford this home no problem. One of the biggest issues with the under 25 year old crowd is expectations. They want a standard of living they cannot afford. Many of us started in a single wide trailer with a new born baby and one vehicle.
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I know I was off topic, but reading some of these threads confirms that some have high paying jobs, credit, generational wealth or a combination. I haven’t been able to put these together yet. Ha
Not sure I would want the headache of being a house flipper, slumlord or trailer park developer. Most people wouldn’t want to walk in my shoes either, to each his own.

As an example, I ran into an old friend yesterday & asked about his kids. His boys are 29 & 31 & living together in Huntsville. Both have professional type jobs & want to move out & each get houses. Gotta be in HSV though, versus something cheaper in Athens, Decatur, Priceville, or Hartselle. Say buy something modest in Decatur, live there for 5-8 years, then move to Madison or Hsv into bigger/nicer house. Nope, neither of 'em can see doing that. All other options are trash in their opinion.

My dad lives in Roswell GA, and he says they are building alot of luxury apartments over there. He says the monthly rent is more than your average teacher could afford. He says the people with money move out into unincorporated areas, and build a big house because the taxes are low.

I honestly have concerns about my children being able to get a house. I would struggle to make the note on my house if I had to buy it new at 8% interest. I certainly couldn't do that and buy a new $80K truck.

I have done rental property and its a PITA. You can make alot of money that way, as long as people pay their rent, but its hard to get that, not to mention, find a tenant that takes care of your property. Section 8 has requirements. You can't just go put in lowe's cabinets. You have to put in more robust fixtures. The guaranteed $ is good though.

Have you seen the subdivision on 119 they put in right past COTH Greystone campus? 3 story houses so close together they basically share a common driveway. I couldn't imagine.

My Dad owned over 150 Sec 8 properties at one time. All but 2 were single family dwellings. Those 2 were duplexes. He made a pretty good living off those things. He sold them all to an investor group in the mid 90's. All were in low income areas.

I was in a hunting club with someone who did the same on smaller scale. He owned about 12 section 8 houses in west end.
Said he got his check every month and he was happy with it.

I have a buddy in mobile that owns several. He bought them as foreclosures, put some money in them, and he gets government money every month. He has good tenets. Never has a problem out of them. They move out, he paints and fixes a few things and the starts over. The requirements are different here I guess because you have to have AC and appliances in them. When the housing market shot up a few years ago he sold a few of them and made and made a good chunk compared to what he had in them. He says when it crashes he will buy some more and keep the ball rolling. Those section 8 people tend to be good renters since they don’t wanna get kicked out of the system. Their part of the rent is usually less than $100 a month.

Sounds like I need to get into the section 8 market

I’m all commercial buildings now, but I used to be a slum lord. If not for investors, most of the houses on those neighborhoods would sit empty and ultimately lead to more blight. The evil landlord makes for a good story, but in reality, it’s what’s keeping a lot of people housed. Some people just have to rent and therefore the need for landlords. Capitalism answers a lot of problems.

The big problem with cheap houses is something as simple as an hvac going out can while out 6-13mo of rent. That’s why the profit margin has to be so high on the lower priced units.