Houses in town that is losing its inhabitants
I would like to have some thoughts from the experienced pros about the following:
about 4,5 miles from where I live is a little town with now about 2100 people, it has some beautiful houses, some just vacant in good condition, some starting to fall apart. There is very little commerce, there are 2 banks, 1 grocery store, some very little stores, 1 small motel, 1 traffic light. Biggest town is about 50 miles away, next biggest town approx 60,000 inhabitants is about 16 miles away.
Last Tuesday I went driving around and found quite a few very nice houses, some foreclosed upon ($40,000.00), others just for sale, most need some cosmetics averaging about $ 5,000.00/each. There are practically no rental properties in this town. It is a very nice quiet neighborhood, has a good elementary and high school and 1 mexican restaurant. Route 66 crosses the town.
I would like to invest in these houses, maybe 1 or 2 to start with (I am just starting out). Now, my question is: what do y'all think about this scenario?
If its such a small town with no real industry or major employers you'll probably have a hard time flipping properties (if that is your approach) or maybe even collecting rents. I would stay away from the ultra-small sleepy little towns but then again thats just me.