I live in NE Alabama. What I do is look around for houses that look in distress. Lawns grown up, no lives there things like that. Then I research who owns it to see what they are going to do with it. Half the time I can get them to sell it to me cheap since it probably needs plumbing or floors need redoing. Sometimes all they need is new drywall and paint inside and out. I am working on one right now I paid $40K for. 2400 square feet, Half the floor joist were rotted out and needed all new plumbing , new drywall for half the house and new appliances. I’ll have close to $90K in it when I’m done but will probably sell for around $180K.
I’m still surprised you can find places like that, but if you’re someone who is handy like that, more power to you! I like the idea, but I don’t think it’s right for us at this point in our lives.
Wish I had known you did that, just auctioned a house in New Hope AL for $30K, would have been glad to sell to a freeper.