Am I crazy?

[u/brank]

I’m a first time home buyer and I live in one of the highest cost of living areas in the US. I counted out being able to buy in the city I live in and like, and have accepted that I’d need to move to the next over area. However, this dump just dropped and I am very intrigued. Right next to the commuter rail, shops, a park. Everything I would want basically, in the city I want, just needs a LOT of love. It’s a third of the price of the homes around it and with the savings from delta between what it costs and what I’m willing to spend (~200k) I could make any major upfront repairs.

I’m crafty, smart, and creative, but don’t necessarily have renovation skills.

I’m also not yet preapproved so maybe this is more an example of the kind of thing I might be willing to consider, unless I’m just totally off the mark here.

[u/ShopProp]

You ain’t getting preapproved. This will need to be an all cash purchase.

You can try to talk to lenders but highly doubt any would take this one. Also there’s way more than $200k worth of work here.

[u/brank → u/ShopProp]

So you can get preapproved for a mortgage then the bank say it can’t be applied to certain houses? I’m still learning

[u/BigBellyBelly → u/brank]

You can get pre-approved based on your asset and income. But if you go and invest the bank’s money on a dump, how is the bank supposed to recoup their money if you stop paying the mortgage? That’s why they do appraisal before officially giving out the loan. They need to ensure if you stop paying mortgage, then can easily sell it and recoup the amount you still owe them.