I bought a REO house 2.5 years ago at $58,000. The house got lots of problems, but major one was foundation problem. I did not know anything about house. But i managed through it, i replaced foundation wall, completely remodel the bathroom, redo the drive way, recarpting all bed rooms, refinish all hardwood floors, repaint the house, replace almost all windows and doors, redo the yard. I spent about $50,000 for remodeling and 3 very exhausted months. I was lucky that all contractors i found were very good. One from Agent recommendation, The others i found from Angie's list (this is a good source to find good contractor), if you decide to do it, you have to apply a memership.
The good thing about the hosue is that it sits in a very decent neighborhood, most housse around it worth $200K-$300K and several cost close to 500K or higher. House itself has very good layout. I rented the house for about 2 years at rent of average $1100 per months. I recently listed the house for sale and got a offer of $133,000 but FHA loan.
At that time. i worked for State goverment and got lots of free time, that i was able to do it. But i will not do this type of thing again now. Spent many time getting quote, interview contractors. you need good eyes to judge good contractor or bad contractor.
On last note, i asked many questions here before i purchased the hosue. JY101 here gave me lots of good advice on foundation. I actually built my confidence purchasing.
Write this in a hurry during work, excuse me for grammer error
