We Made a Bid

I am an impulsive person, I will admit it. However, 98% of the time, my instincts are right on target. A couple of years ago, I talked about taking money out of the pension fund to invest in more property here. Ron did not want to do it. When the economic crash hit, we were hit hard. As I graze through the listings for homes in the Fort Lauderdale area, not necessarily the city itself, I have been saving those that look promising, skipping over others.

Each day, I get a number of alerts from different Multiple Listing Services with new offers on the market or showing the ups or downs of asking prices. As I was looking over one such offer the other day, I noticed a "You may also be interested in this" along the right hand column. It was not a property officially listed with the service sending out the e-mail, but was part of MLS. I clicked on it and was immediately intrigued. What I found was a short sale condo already approved by the bank for $74,000. The buyer had backed out after finding other properties and the contract needs to be rewritten. It is 3 bedrooms and 2 full baths, full covered balcony, 1,200 square feet (about 111.5 sq. meters). The complex has a swimming pool, tennis court, and gym. What it needs is a complete repainting and appliances: fridge, washing machine, dryer. It is in Pompano Beach.

It seemed prudent to discuss this with the listing agent, avoiding the time of going through Larry who would have to contact her anyway. Since yesterday, she (Linda) and I have had over a dozen e-mails. She answered every question almost immediately. She did check on the rentals in the complex. The two bedroom units are renting for $1,000 to $1,200 a month. Her best guess is that this being a 3 bedroom, it will get more, plus it has a dedicated detached garage. It is 15-minutes to the beach.

Mike the guy who offered his services, lives in the area, checked out the address and gave us a thumbs up. He said the area is one of the better ones. His partner is a retired social worker from NY. We threw our hat into the ring, which does not seem too competitive at the moment. This may be it!!

Our fingers are crossed!!

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