[mcboz44]

Originally Posted by PSULion22

I, like you, will be a winner in all of this. I close on my house on May 19th. It is a foreclosed home that I am buying $125K below what the previous owner paid for it, two years ago. That's a 36% drop in price, about $25k below appraisal, and about $75k below comparable homes. It's also in great condition, which is something that can be risky with foreclosures. It needs about $3000 of work, mostly general maintenance and a fridge and washer. I'm putting in wood floors which will run about another $3000. When I am all done, and have spent maybe $7500-8000 in upgrades/repairs, I would gain about $50+K in appraised value. And, my loan is a low fixed 30 yr. The rate is yet to be determined as we think the banks will lower rates a little on the cusp of the Fed's rate cut today. Regardless, it will be less that 5.75%.

That is my exact story word for word, right down to the closing date. I am buying a house that sold in March of '06 for 573k for 290k. The house appraised for 425k last week. It is a house that a police officer with 3 kids on a single income has absolutely no business living in. I was able to turn a nice profit on the house I bought four years ago because I bought within my means and went with a 30 year fixed.