I’m a Realtor (but in a different state) and I’d suggest you find a good Real Estate agent that you trust. Although not always easy, a good agent will generally be able to help you with all of this and will be more than worth it. I can try to help answer any general questions if you have, feel free to reach out, but states often have different rules so not everything will apply.
As for “Hacking” a deal like on here, the general rule is the worse condition a property is, the better deal you can get. The downsize is you have to deal with renovations and the “best” deals often can’t be financed traditionally so you have to buy with cash or hard money lending which is risky. There are other indicator’s of looking for deals as well (such as trends, days on market, etc…).
Have done this 3x in the last 12 yrs, if you are in a high price area (like in the NE or CA) the price per sq ft for move in ready is (imo) inflated. If you are handy and willing do the work this is the fastest way to build equity. I went from not owning a screwdriver to having a garage full of tools.
Youtube is your friend if you want to see how to tackle most reno projects (specially those w/o the need to open a permit w the town).
super rough napkin calcs, if in my area a tear down sells for ~$350k-400k and the builder offers the new home at ~$1.2-1.3mm, thats ~850k to account for the cost of building a brand new and his profit, a 3800 sqft mcmansion is prob around $100-$120 sqft to build, that gives you an idea that the buyer would be paying about ~320 per sqft.
If you can pick up a distressed property in a good area maybe you can be at all in $200 per sqft (gut job and rehab). You can be around ~35%+ LTV by the time you refinance once all the reno is done. If you need access to liquidity and you did ur numbers right you should be able to take out a HELOC for a portion of the finished product in case you need access to the equity on the fly.(Taking out a HELOC doesnt meean literally draining the entire line to go on a vaca or buy stuff you dont need).
If you live in a high pop density area, consider a multifamily or a mother/daughter or legal
walk out basement setup, before you know it you could be living -nearly- mortgage free (I used to watch the HGTV show Income Property w Scott McGillivray, watch at least of couple if this is something you would consider.
Finally, taxes tend to be lower for a rehab job vs a tear down, the towns assesement of a new home is much higher than a home from the 70s with a full rehab… but as w other things YMMV.
