I own a quadraplex apartment and was finally remodeling the last unit with my husband. The day was nice so we had the front door open. A young couple pulled up and asked if the apartment was going to be for rent and when. They owned a place and were trying to sell with no luck.
I asked the girl why she would want to rent if she owned a place. Upon further conversations, she told us she wanted a new start, and if I could see her place, I would understand. The next day we went by and looked at the girl’s place. It looked like a house, but in the middle was an old mobile home.
They mentioned $30,000, and we just explained that we never had purchased mobile homes and didn’t have that kind of money. (We really didn’t want it because it needed work.)
Less than a week later as we were finishing up and after several visits by this young couple, they said they had an offer of $25,000, then $20,000, then $12,500, and they were going to accept it because they wanted to rent our apartment. My husband told them, “Well, heck. I’ll give you $13,500. I didn’t know you were going to ask that low a price.”
I felt like this is too good to be true, so I went over to talk to the girl. I actually tried to talk her out of selling her place. She owned it free and clear. I asked her why? She explained to me she wanted a place that had no yard, upkeep, or bad memories, and she was selling period!
Then she told me if I would let her rent my apartment, she would pay one year’s rent upfront, plus deposit. I had pulled up the tax records, and it was in her name. The value was $29,000. With additions this house is a 3/2, about 1,400 sq. ft., has a well, a septic tank, and a separate shed.
We went to closing, paid a total of $13,500 and got back $6,380 for 13 1/2 months of rent and deposit. Now we’re on the middle of selling her home for $25,000 with $2,500 down and owner financing at 11% to 12% for five years. All this within a three-week time frame, and we will end up with about… Well, you figure it out. I’ve heard of these deals, but never has one dropped in my doorway.