A “hood” I didn’t buy, 5 police cars and a gun pointed at me

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A few days ago, as I often do, I passed by several houses. In our market right now, nice homes are flying off the shelves – and usually for more money than they ever were. Dang it. That’s why I’m finding out more about new properties on the market to assess them and see what’s out there and what’s available.

Overall, there are fewer properties, listed at higher prices, selling for more – and the more problems, the worse the condition. #yesImightbewhining

This morning I had 5 properties on my list, and I started my search in the neighborhood near my house. I approached the home, which was at the bottom of a sweeping hill, in a mixed owner-occupant and rental neighborhood with homes in the $70k – $100k range. The house is listed for $23k…and bank owned.

Connected: Should your rental be in a stable or unstable neighborhood?

Property # 1

From the outside, it looked like it needed a new roof, some yard work, some work on the deck, but there were no noticeable foundation issues.

I moved into the house, and it was pretty typical for REO/bank owned properties – some mold, drywall repair, some broken windows, even some daylight coming in from outside. Decent “bones”, as we say… As decent as the layout was, the property looked structurally fine – and looked like it had some potential.

But it was very tight within my rules of buying in terms of all costs for % of ARV and overall values. Both were pushing the envelope. I left there, walked a few more streets to make sure I had a good handle on the subject and the surrounding properties, and then moved on to the next.

The next house was in a part of town that I haven’t bought yet.

Property #2

It was a bungalow style property. There is a beautiful brick facade on most of the property and a portion of the town, with front yards that are very steep for the property. It had a drive to the side and a garage to the rear of the lot.

I entered what was once its grand gate and immediately met the smell of mold and old, The house was cool. This is one of those that fueled my desire to improve the neighborhood – and the house, if it was in a better neighborhood, I would have been able to sell in the $200-$300k range instead of the sales price in the $20k range. What a terrible shame.

Overall I really liked this house. Despite the broken windows, hole in ceilingThe fact that it needed a new roof, HVAC and windows, plus a complete renovation of the garage was a disaster… it was a nice house. And I was really feeling it. I fell in love with the hardwood, and I usually like such old houses with character. It’s a great feeling to bring them back to life, to give someone a great place to live – all while buying another investment that gives us more passive income.

I took another look around outside, peered at the neighbors, and then got in my car and drove to the next property.

As I approached the next house, I quickly realized that I was not in the part of town I wanted to live in. narrow street. Lots of people hang out in front of their places, and I clearly didn’t “belong” in the neighborhood with my new car and favorite Ray Ban shades — no matter what I drive or wear sunglasses. Am; rather, I wasn’t getting a friendly vibe back from people after I gave them a smile, nod, or handshake,

I pulled over to the side of the road as best I could, picked out the next address for the GPS, and began to slowly pull to the end of the road. At that moment I decided that I would move on. No matter how good the numbers were, it just didn’t pass the gut test.

I kid you not, like a slow motion made-for-TV drama, this police officer in a marked SUV squad car sped down the road, pulling sideways, his brakes screeching as he spun through the streets . He blocked my way by stopping one leg from my bumper.

Connected: What Is a “Working Class Neighborhood”…and What Isn’t

Then he took out his gun. And started shouting.

Good news: The gun and the screaming weren’t directly aimed at me.

Bad news: He and his car were so close to me, I could reach out and almost touch him with my window.

Within 10-20 seconds there wasn’t just one police officer or police car – there were 4-5, all shouting, guns drawn, pointing at a jeep with 3-4 people headed straight for it Was behind my car.

So let me remind you, I pulled over towards the end of the road, police car pulls up behind me, jeep behind me pulls up close to me, police car pulls up behind jeep, another police car pulls up behind the car in front of me , and then another one on the other side in front of me. All the officers with guns are yelling at the people to get out.

Yes, it put me in the middle of this “controversy” as we might call it, a position I had no need or desire to be in the middle of.

As soon as this thing came up, my heart rate had gone … say, a few beats. I rolled down my window and, as calmly as I could, asked the officer in front of me if I could “go now.”

He laughed, and said, “Just a minute.” Yes, I laughed too. What ELSE Do I Do… #besidespeemypants

Correct. The officer finally passes my car, everyone in the jeep is ejected from it (not that I saw most of it… I got my head down as far as I could get it )

He pats the trunk of the car like a coach pats his player after a good game and says, “Have a nice day. You may go now.”

Voza.

get me out of here!!!

I’ll be honest: I drove slowly, counting my blessings and wondering what I had gotten myself into.

I know a lot of investors who have properties in that area, and who knows, maybe they’ve never had that kind of experience. But it was enough for me. I also had the “do I really want to be in this business” conversations.

Who am I kidding, of course I do.

It’s not just the neighborhood.

takeaway

1. Do Your Homework

If it’s not you, hire someone you trust who will give you real feedback about the subject property, surrounding properties, and the overall neighborhood.

Make sure you understand what you are getting into before buying it. Driving (once the police officer lets you pass) is a lot easier than dealing with a bad house, bad neighborhood or bad tenant.

2. Don’t get discouraged

It’s a fact: We spend a lot of time looking at properties we’ll never buy. or, let me say, You should look at a lot of properties to find the good ones, and get your way down. and know what you are looking for.

Like in this example, the home may be in the wrong part of town. In this particular situation, I found myself somewhere I didn’t want to be – but that doesn’t mean my real estate business was bad or that my intentions weren’t good. Just take it as another life lesson, another time to learn, another time you walked away with another tool in your real estate tool box.

3. Stay Safe

I must say, I was thinking of my kids and wife as I sat there hoping that there would be no real shots fired.

And believe me, I was scared out of my mind sitting in the middle of something that has nothing to do with me. I don’t know if there’s really anything in that situation I could have done differently, but overall, we have to be very cautious.

When you look at vacant properties, make sure you survey outside and check with neighbors. Are people spying on the house, spying on the neighborhood? be careful.

Once you are indoors, if you are alone, make sure you check how you will get out of the house. Know the exit. It’s just a matter of being careful and knowing how to take care of yourself. It’s not just for C-class neighborhoods; This is for any home that has been vacant for some time. Trust me…I’ve seen them break too.

So bring it! What are your crazy cop or vacant property stories? What else can we learn from our community here as we learn to become better investors?

Please leave a comment below!

Note by BigPockets: These are the views expressed by the author and do not necessarily represent the views of BigPockets.

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