Every investor has a buy box. Most of them just won’t tell you what’s in it.
That wastes everybody’s time. You send a property, wait a week, and get a polite “not for us” with no reason. So here’s mine, written out. If your property fits, send it. If it clearly doesn’t, I’d rather you know now.
This is the working list I use at Cash Property Offers. It changes a little as my business changes. Right now I’m leaning harder into land, land with a mobile home, and small multifamily.
The four property types I buy in South Carolina
Single-family houses that need work
This is the backbone. Three-bedroom ranch with original kitchen. Brick house where Grandma lived for forty years and nobody’s touched the bathroom since. A rental that’s been beat up by the last two tenants. Fire damage, roof leaks, foundation questions, hoarder situations. I’ve seen most of it.
What I’m looking for: a house where the fix is a known quantity once you walk it with a repair sheet, in a neighborhood where finished houses sell or rent.
Small multifamily: duplex to quad
I want more two-to-four unit property. Duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes. Side-by-side, up-and-down, converted old houses, small brick buildings from the sixties and seventies. Tenants in place are fine. Leases that are a mess are fine, as long as you’re honest about it.
I’ve worked a small multifamily renovation in Greenwood, and these buildings are a big part of how I want to hold property long term. If you want the investor’s view on why, I wrote it up at multifamily.benlovro.com.
Land
Rural acreage, wooded tracts, infill lots in town, parcels people inherited and never visited. Land is quieter than houses, but it hides more. Access, septic suitability, flood zone, survey and title all matter more on dirt than on a house. I do that homework. You just need to tell me what you know.
Land and mobile home packages
A mobile or manufactured home sitting on its own land. These are common in the rural Midlands counties and I’ve been buying more of them. Condition of the home matters less to me than the land, the well and septic, and whether the home is properly tied to the land on paper. There’s a deeper explanation of how these deals work on the land and mobile home page.
Where I buy: the Midlands and beyond
My home base is Lexington. My core area is roughly an hour’s drive from there.
Core Midlands footprint: - Columbia - Lexington - West Columbia - Cayce - Irmo - Newberry - Greenwood - Aiken - Orangeburg - Swansea - Pelion - Batesburg
Secondary markets: Sumter, the Upstate, Lancaster and Rock Hill.
I’ve renovated and held rentals in Newberry and Lancaster County, finished a renovation in Lugoff, and I’ve got one underway in Irmo. Each town has its own personality. Columbia’s older in-town neighborhoods are different from Irmo’s 1980s subdivisions, which are different from a rural tract outside Pelion. If you want the investor’s map of each one, start at the Midlands guide.
Conditions that fit my buy box
Condition is where most sellers undersell their own situation. They assume a messy house or a messy situation disqualifies them. Usually it’s the opposite.
- Vacant, or occupied by you, a tenant or a family member
- Dated kitchens, baths, flooring, electrical, plumbing or HVAC
- Roof, foundation, water or termite issues you already know about
- Inherited property going through probate or already out of it
- Tenant-occupied with leases, month-to-month, or no paperwork at all
- Behind on taxes, liens, or code issues the attorney will need to clear
- Out-of-state owner who doesn’t want to manage repairs from a distance
- Land with no road frontage questions answered yet
I’m not saying every one of those becomes a deal. I’m saying none of them stops me from looking.
What usually doesn’t fit
Being clear about the “no” saves you a phone call.
- Retail-ready houses. If it’s updated and shows well, a licensed agent will probably get you more. I’ll say that to your face.
- Large apartment complexes. Five units and up is commercial property with different financing and management. Not my lane today.
- Commercial buildings. Retail strips, offices, warehouses. Pass.
- Property far outside my markets. I can’t evaluate what I can’t drive to.
- Contracts, not property. If you hold a contract but not the deed and you aren’t licensed, South Carolina’s 2024 law changes what you can do with it. Read the plain-English summary of SC wholesaling law and talk to an attorney.
How I decide whether it fits
I’m not mysterious about this. Here’s the order.
- Type and location. Is it something on the list, in a place I buy?
- Exit. What would I do with it: renovate and sell, renovate and rent, hold land, sell land on terms? If there’s no clear exit, there’s no deal.
- After-repair value. What do comparable finished properties nearby actually sell or rent for? I use sold comps, not online estimates.
- Repairs. I walk it system by system: roof, foundation, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, then cosmetics. Add a contingency because there’s always something.
- Risk check. Title, flood zone, septic, access, tenants, zoning. Anything here can kill it.
- Offer. Only after the paper says yes.
If you want to see the math investors use, there’s a full walk-through at analyze.benlovro.com. It’s the same sequence I run on your property.
Who can send me a property that fits
The buy box is only half of it. The other half is who’s sending it.
I buy from owners, licensed agents, investors who hold title, and estates through their personal representative or attorney. Agents get their own page at agents.benlovro.com, and there’s more detail on each group at who I buy from.
Why I keep the box this tight
Two deals is luck. Twenty is a system.
A tight buy box is how I stay good at what I do. I know what a roof costs to replace in Pelion. I know which streets in West Columbia hold value after a rehab. I know which rural parcels in the Midlands have septic challenges before I ever order a test. That knowledge only exists because I keep doing the same kinds of deals in the same places.
It also makes me faster. When I already understand the product and the town, I can answer you quickly and honestly. That speed is part of what I’m offering.
Send me what fits
If your property is on this list and in these towns, send it through benlovro.com/submit-deal. Include the address, condition, occupancy and your timeline. I aim to respond within 24 business hours of a complete submission.
Not sure what to include? The how to submit page has the checklist. Want the bigger picture first? Go back to the main cash buyer page.
Questions people ask
Do you buy houses that are in good condition?
Sometimes, but a move-in-ready house usually belongs on the open market with a licensed agent. My buy box leans toward property that needs work, has tenants, or has a complication a retail buyer won’t touch.
Will you look at a property outside the Midlands?
My secondary markets are Sumter, the Upstate, Lancaster and Rock Hill. Outside those, send it only if it’s a strong fit on type and condition, and I’ll tell you honestly whether I can work it.