House #29: The Ticket House

January 26, 2012 · 11 comments

It’s been a long while since we put a new house under contract, but with about 20 offers in over the past two weeks, it was inevitable that we’d get at least a couple…

This one is going to be called The Ticket House, given that I got a speeding ticket while entering the subdivision the first time I went to the house. As anyone who knows me will tell you, I’m pretty stubborn, and if I’m going to get a ticket, I’m at least going to buy the house and make enough to pay for the ticket!

This house is actually a little bit different for us. Not only is it about 30 minutes outside the area where we normally invest, it’s also a bit higher price point. We’re purchasing this one for $80,000, will likely put between $20-25K into renovations and will resell in the $130-150K range. It won’t be a difficult project, but given that we don’t know the area very well — and we don’t know the buyers agents who work in the area — it will present some new marketing/selling challenges.

But, we’re looking to branch out our investing area this year, so this will be a good start for us…

I’ll post our rehab budget and some pictures in upcoming posts; hopefully we’ll have this one purchased and ready to start renovations in the next week or two.






11 responses to “House #29: The Ticket House”

  1. anne says:

    wow… what a luxury 20 offers 🙂 keep up the good work!

  2. Tom Greene says:

    Congratulations! I really hope expanding to a new area works out well for you! I really hope you don’t get burned! 🙂

  3. Brian says:

    Hi J-

    Was this a short sale off of the MLS?

  4. Matt K says:

    Hi J,

    Are you going to count the ticket as an expense on your financial breakdown of this property? I guess you could consider it a purchase expense 🙂

  5. J Scott says:

    Matt –

    All joking aside, it’s on my list to speak with my CPA to determine if this is a legitimate business expense/write-off…after all, I was working when I got the ticket! 🙂

  6. J Scott says:

    Hey Brian –

    This was actually an REO purchased off the MLS.

  7. Sean says:

    Congratulations on the house J.

    Unfortunately speeding tickets and any fines, even if they were a result of conducting business (ie. traveling salesman getting speeding tickets, investor on the way to a house, etc), are considered personal expenses and not deductible for business purposes.

  8. J Scott says:

    Hey Sean –

    Thanks for the information! I figured that was the case, but thought it was worth asking the question…thanks again for the response…

  9. Brian says:

    Hey J-
    Worst market in the country, and you’re still gettin’ it done. Keep it up!

    In Atlanta, Housing Woes Reflect Nation’s Pain
    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/01/business/economy/in-atlanta-housing-woes-reflect-nations-economic-pain.html?hpw

  10. irish man says:

    Hey J Scott, great blog and thanks for doing this. May I ask who “we” is when you write? It appears that this endeavor is comprised of more people than yourself? Do you have a partnership established and if so do you mind telling us how that partnership is structured? Thank you so much Scott and congrats on your success.

  11. J Scott says:

    Hey Irish man,

    Depending on the context, “we” will either refer to my wife and myself (we are partners in the business) or to my wife, myself and our full-time project manager (we are a close knit team in business and share in all our successes)…

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