>>>Meanwhile those who do understand finance etc and are highly educated have no clue or desire to hunt down distressed RE. <<<
To some extent this has to do with age and energy level. Also, it helps if you are good at finding contractors, plumbers, etc., and in general dealing with and bargaining with people face to face. It can be a good deal of trouble to undistress and resell a distressed property. Even in the midst of the bull in real estate, in the last year or two, a guy bought a somewhat run-down house down the street from me--a 1920s bungalow--for maybe $130,000 (maybe less), redid the kitchen adding the usual stuff, redid the bathrooms, fixed and repainted everything, maybe at a cost of $40,000 and his own work, and immediately resold it for over $250,000. Do that twice a year and you have a decent income.
To me, house painting is terminally boring and dickering with subcontractors is not particularly stimulating. |
