The walk through is done, the keys are handed over, the rent is collected.

My first real estate/rental venture is complete. Or at least officially in progress.  Now all I have to do is wait for that mailbox money each month, and make sure the neighbors are kept happy…

A recent article on MSN Money revealed the accuracy of online appraisal engines such as Zillow and RealtyTrac, and the results are interesting, but not surprising.

The study put a 5% variance on what a home sold for and what online AVM’s (automated valuation models) suggest the house might sell for.  They looked at Zillow, RealtyTrac, HomeSmart, and Domania, among others, and how they compare to actual sales prices.

It turns out that none of the AVM’s are exactly stellar at what they do.  In fact, …

Thanks to Chadh for his comment on my second possible RE candidate listing an article he found on emongoo.com.  The new emongoo.com will list your “For Sale By Owner” (FSBO) for free, allowing you to post pictures and unlimited descriptions for your home listing.  There are no commissions or fees, and you can update your listing as often as you want.

I’ve always thought that there should be a single place on the internet that will service the FSBO community, much like the MLS database.

emongoo.com has a good thing going, particularly because it’s free.  If you’re selling your property on your own, you are trying to get away from commissions, listing fees, and marketing gouges.  So this pricing structure fits right in with your budget.

Another possible real estate investment candidate turned up today, further broadening my options for the second acquisition.

This house is in the same area as rental house #1 and candidate #2, but is a 4 bed, 2 bath house.  It’s priced such that it would make a good rental for college students, but could also be sold for a healthy gain as well.

It’s had new windows and vinyl siding installed, and already has central air, which other houses in the area are lacking (most use window units).  The listing …

My brother sent me an article from Bankrate.com about making a living flipping houses, and how it’s much harder than it looks, requiring deep pockets going into the deal.

I found myself nodding my head as I read the article, as it had many good points.  The get-rich-quick infomercials that you see on late night TV on how to make money in real estate with no money down are a figment of the imagination.

I noticed in the listing for Property #2 that the cooling for the house is listed as “Central Gas”.

I’ve never heard of central gas for cooling purposes, only for heating.  I sent the agent an email to confirm whether or not the house actually has central air, as I did not see an air conditioning unit outside the house when I walked through it the first time.

I just found out that the owner of property number two that I’m scoping out has dropped the list price by $4,000. They now have it listed for $74,900, which is still above what I’d buy it for. Considering the amount of work it needs, I’d buy the property for $66,000. The fact that they are willing to lower the price by $4-5,000 every month is a good sign that they might be willing to deal…

I’ll go meet with my banker next week to see if I can swing this deal.

This morning I read a post by Dave from the “In Acton” blog had an offer accepted on a house just outside of Acton.  Dave has been looking for a house for a while, and has had a few offers shot down recently and had turned a bit disheartened for lack of progress.

However, now the real negotiating begins.

Once you get an offer accepted, you’ve got a lot of details to sort out in terms of the loan.  A lender will try to stick you for every last penny they can get, and they hide the details somewhere in paragraph 6 on page 72 of your 150 page loan document.

I decided to delay my purchase for a washer and dryer for my rental unit until I get the tenants to sign the addendum to the original lease, holding them responsible for an additional $30 per month in rent.

After running throuh a “what-if” scenario, I realized that if I don’t get this in writting, I could be stuck with a washer and dryer that I don’t need if they change their minds on our deal.

I came across the Realtor Magazine Online website yesterday, and found a short article about remodeling projects and how much each project affects the resale value.

It turns out that next to upgraded exterior siding, a bathroom remodeling project returns the most money on the investment (in fact, it actually returns a little more than you put into it).