From Carolyn Said at the San Francisco Chronicle: Oakland group buying Contra Costa foreclosures (ht Walt, John) Oakland’s McKinley Partners is betting that low-end foreclosed homes in eastern Contra Costa County will double in value in five years. The real estate development company has formed a $6 million fund to buy bank-owned homes in Antioch, Pittsburg and Bay Point. It aims to spend about $100,000 per home, including rehab, and rent them out for $1,200 to $1,500 a month. Then it hopes to sell them for $200,000 each in five years. McKinley is emblematic of a major force currently propelling the real estate market: investors and speculators snapping up foreclosed homes. Along with first-time buyers, they are a primary source of increased sales volume. I know investor groups doing the same thing, and they pay cash too. As far as these numbers – good luck. The numbers only make sense at the low end, and rents are falling quickly. It is very unlikely the price will double in five years – or even ten years.

Read more here – Investors Buying Low End Foreclosures