Houses From Hell Help Pair Make Profits

COLUMBUS, Ohio—More than 5,000 vacant and abandoned homes in Columbus have created opportunities for childhood friends Justin Campbell and Jeremy Ambrose.

The two are 2004 graduates of Columbus St. Francis de Sales High School and have started a business called Trustworthy Investments, trying to match the abandoned homes with buyers who will turn them into livable homes.

Because of the economy, many of the homes are selling at rock-bottom prices.

Contractors, who are also having difficult times, are willing to work for less money.

Campbell and Ambrose have created a business finding owners of vacant and abandoned homes—often who are out-of-town relatives of original owners or banks which have taken them over—and matched them up with investors who are looking for rental properties.

“There’s massive opportunity,“ Campbell said.

He said the abandoned homes often look much worse than they are and what might appear as a $20,000 clean-up and repair job can be done for $4,000.

At a home on Fairwood, the duo is hoping to sell a home that may have sold for $75,000 or $80,000 a few years ago—for $19,000.

The home’s lawn is overgrown with high weeds and long grass.

“Nothing that a mower or a landscaping business can’t fix,“ Campbell said.

Often, the process simply involves sweat equity.

When the economy improves, the homes may sell again for higher prices.

Currently, they will likely become rental properties.

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