First time buying a home for investing and I'm wondering what numbers do I need to make this a amazing deal, or should I avoid it?

First Time Investor

Very loaded post, sorry, just my first time getting into RE and would like to learn if this works.

A person i know is selling their home not too far from me, they inherited it and dont want to continue paying the mortgage, and rather sell and make a profit.

They said they went to zillow/trulia and it hovers around $220-230k (which I think is high). Tax assessment for 2025 was 212k (home was purchased for 110k years ago, not sure what the original owner owes, but I was told by the person its not in a 2nd mortgage). The neighborhood is good, but the home is not huge (3b, 2bath, 1600 sq ft), $360 a year hoa. So I'm wondering if this is deal worth going after, or what numbers should I go for? What I mean by that is like what should I offer (40% less of the price)? I understand I should go tour the home to get a better idea of things, and I have been there 2 months ago, I would say it needs very minimal work (maybe a new kitchen counter and master bedroom flooring, a good cleaning since the person I know was a smoker, and the stuff i listed below, but thats about it).

My background: 800 credit score, I have enough to put 25% down, and no debt.

Goal: I would like to eventually cashflow this to $500-1000.

The bills in this home I know run about this much:

Water bill - $85 (because they are in the same mud water district I am in).

Internet - $100/month.

Zillow estimates rent is: $1,850 (which it shows rents in the area 1900-2200, but obviously I think those are bigger 2 story homes).

Has a new fridge, 1 year old ac unit, and in good shape. The washer is not working, and the master bed room (250 sq ft) needs new flooring.

This would be my first time purchasing a home, and re investing home for that matter, so I'm looking for a amazing deal, not just a good deal.

I'm wondering what numbers (like purchasing price) would I need to make this work, and should i put the 25% down, or house hack it since I live less than 15 mins away from the property? So like maybe I can charge $900 (not sure if I could do all bills paid though).

If anyone has alot of experience or an expert in this can give me some advice, I would appreciate it 100%.

Posted Mar 5, 2026, 7:49 PM UTC

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