Does this sound like a good idea??

MyLuvBugs wrote: One of DH's new bosses in Phoenix has offered to buy a house and have us rent it from him. They guy likes to flip homes, so he buys them fixes them up and sells them for MUCHO profit. So, DH then said that we'd even help to renovate the house for him if he'd like......

Does that sound like a good idea to you all or like we're just getting into a bad situation?

boyohboyohboy replied: what happens when its renovated? and does he expect you to buy it when its said and done?
sometimes its best not to mix money with friends or acqaintences.

mom2my2cuties replied: Well a few questions -

1 - Are you guys planning to stay in Pheonix for a while? If so, then why not just buy a house? You can sale it later if you move - And now, with the housing bubble burst, most anyone can buy a house regardless of credit if that is an issue.

2 - Wouldn't it be better for you guys to spend a couple of weeks in a hotel (not great with kids I know - I'm doing it now) and look at homes that way, because you want to be in an area you are going to be happy in, feel safe, and want to have your children in.

3 - I agree with Stacy - Not always a good idea to rent from an employer, friend, or aquanitance. Money shouldn't be mixed into those relationships. It rarely turns out well.

Nina J replied: I probably wouldn't. I agree with Stacy about not mixing money. I'd look into it more before I made a desicion.

luvmykids replied: Even if he doesn't expect you to buy it, does he expect you to move as soon as he's done with it? Also, if Steven is willing to do the work, maybe you could look into buying a fixer upper for you guys to flip or keep? If Steven is willing to do the work, and you guys would be living in the middle of it anyway, I'd say try to make it something that will benefit you guys more in the long run.

CantWait replied:
Ditto.

I also don't like the idea of mixing friends/bosses, etc..

C&K*s Mommie replied: I would say no- not a good idea. For reasons mentioned above about not mixing friendships & finances.

my2monkeyboys replied: Have to say I agree with everyone else here, for all the same reasons.
I wish you luck finding a comfortable home for your family.

MyLuvBugs replied:
Well, it will get renovated while we live there, which is fine. I've done that before when I was a kid, just not with kids of my own. And I'm sure it'll be just one project at a time. KWIM? I'm really really really hoping that he doesn't expect us to buy it when he's done, b/c he likes to High-end upgrade stuff.....The last home he flipped....he made a profit of over $100,000 dollars on. So, I'm pretty sure we won't be able to afford it when it's done.

MyLuvBugs replied:
Answers (good questions too Tish!)

1. Planning to stay for at least 2-3 years. And we have contemplated buying a house ourselves with a co-signer of like my MIL or my dad. However, we have NO savings anymore. The last 10 months have used it all up. So we'd have to get a loan for 100% of the house cost. Not sure if our credit would get us that type of loan. Although we could do just an interest only loan I suppose.....maybe we'll ask the realator to run our credit to see what we could get....can't hurt, right?

2. Well, DH grew up in the Phoenix area (Mesa) and I lived there for awhile right after college, so we know the area really well. In fact the area that we want to live is the same area that I used to live in. HA! It's fairly new....but with that comes a new higher cost. KWIM?

3. Yeah....DH and I were talking that it'd be weird....convenient but very weird.

MyLuvBugs replied:
Well, more than likely.....I'd be doing 80% of the work. I used to help my dad renovate homes in our small town growing up. So I've had some experience. But DH is the muscle and carpentry. LOL!

But you're probably right....something that would benefit us more in the long run is probably the way to go.

Hillbilly Housewife replied: Well.... have you guys discussed that if you guys help with the work, you guys will have wayyy discounted rent? I mean... the guy would get zero income from not renting it out usually, right? So if you guys only pay a couple hundred dollars a month, and he pays for the reno stuff as usual, but instead of hiring contractors, you do it... yea it goes slower, but he's getting a couple hundred dolalrs a month extra...

although, if he makes 100 000$ profit now and then when he flips a house, I'm sure the guy wouldn't mind letting you guys live there rent free for a couple months...

As for mixing family/friends/acquaintances and houses... my grandmother always said "Good papers make good friends"... if you know anything about my living situation, I live in a house owned by my mom and grandmother, and so do my inlaws. We have a rent contract, like anyone else, with consequences and rent increases etc... and as long as we both abide by the contract, we have no problems.

mom2my2cuties replied:
When we bought our first house in Dallas we had POOOP credit. Because we had some serious spending issues. We got a 100% loan. It was through a new home builder and we had NO co-signer. I would check around with different builders and find out. I know you can get FHA loans no matter what your credit is, I don't know what kind of loan we had originally, we changed to a conventional loan, and still didn't pay any down.

sparkys2boys replied:
I agree also. What happens if you move in and then someone offers him the MUCHO money that he wants for the home? Will he ask you to leave??

MyLuvBugs replied:
Well, he doesn't seem like that type of person, but I dont' know if I want to take that chance. However, trying to find a house, get a loan, and have it all close in the next 40 days might be pushing it. We haven't exactly had the best of luck lately, so we'll see. The realtor had a broker friend of hers run our credit and see what she could find as far as 100% loans go...UGH.... My head hurts and my heart is just pounding about this. It's just scary...having all this debt and possibly buying a house on top of it all. I told DH if I have an anerizum it's all his fault. LOL