It’s gotten tougher to find great investment deals on the MLS these days. However, it’s still very doable. I’ve bought 5 houses off MLS this year, and I know others who’ve bought many more than that. The key is to know your market. Hopefully this post will help with that.
I ran a search that returned all homes designated by the listing agent as foreclosed, bank owned, or “handyman special.” Here is a link to the search results. Then, I pulled these statistics from the MLS data available for these homes. Here are my statistics on Birmingham’s distressed homes
16 Zip Codes With 2%+ Share Of Inventory
| 35215 | 23 | 5% |
| 35206 | 22 | 5% |
| 35208 | 17 | 4% |
| 35023 | 12 | 3% |
| 35160 | 12 | 3% |
| 35217 | 11 | 3% |
| 35173 | 10 | 2% |
| 35126 | 10 | 2% |
| 35064 | 10 | 2% |
| 35020 | 9 | 2% |
| 35211 | 9 | 2% |
| 35022 | 9 | 2% |
| 35204 | 9 | 2% |
| 35224 | 8 | 2% |
| 36201 | 7 | 2% |
| 35235 | 7 | 2% |
17 MLS Market Area’s With 2%+ Share Of Inventory
| Ensley, Fairfield, Midfield, West End | 56 | 13% |
| Bessemer, Hueytown, Pleasant Grove | 36 | 8% |
| Calhoun County | 34 | 8% |
| CenterPt, Grayson Valley, Huffman, Roebuck | 29 | 7% |
| EastLake, Woodlawn | 25 | 6% |
| Talladega County | 25 | 6% |
| Inglenook, North Bham, Norwood, Tarrant | 18 | 4% |
| Clay, Palmerdale, Pinson, Remlap | 17 | 4% |
| Ashville, Margaret, Odenville, Ragland | 14 | 3% |
| Chilton County | 9 | 2% |
| Randolph County | 8 | 2% |
| Jasper | 8 | 2% |
| Columbiana, Westover, Wilsonville | 8 | 2% |
| Cleveland, LocustFork, Oneonta | 8 | 2% |
| Fultondale, Gardendale, Mt Olive | 7 | 2% |
| Trussville | 7 | 2% |
| Adamsville, Forestdale, Graysville, Pratt City | 7 | 2% |
About The Houses
| Average Year Built | 1963 |
| Average Size | 1,693 SqFt |
| Bedrooms | # Of Homes | % Of Total |
| 1 | 6 | 1% |
| 2 | 87 | 20% |
| 3 | 271 | 62% |
| 4 | 54 | 12% |
| 5 | 13 | 3% |
| 6 | 1 | 0% |
| Bathrooms | # Of Homes | % Of Total |
| 1 | 182 | 42% |
| 1.5 | 19 | 4% |
| 2 | 155 | 36% |
| 2.5 | 32 | 7% |
| 3 | 25 | 6% |
| 3.5 | 12 | 3% |
| 4 | 2 | 0% |
Market Data
| Top 20% | $ 129,900 | |
| List Price | Median | $ 58,621 |
| Botom 20% | $ 25,000 | |
| Top 20% | 136.4 | |
| DOM | Median | 61 |
| Bottom 20% | 25 |
If you want to check out the houses, here is a Link to look through the available inventory