Check the probate records to see if the property has
been left to an heir, or charity or … then CONTACT
the administrator it may well be the state’s property.
Check to see if there are leins.
Look out for environmental problems they can mess up
your day.
Check (try to find out) what value the succession atty.
(if there is one) put on the property for estate tax
purposses, you may be able to pick it up for not much
more than that. Look out for DISapproval of a sale by
any one heir. (how’s that for the subject of a R/E
course) “Gettin The Heirs Out Of The Way” Ha Ha.
But FIRST, learn the value of the property…
then… ask yourself, do I want this property
(aka like a husband or wife for a mate)
(do I want it at THAT price)
Look at the deal from a distance, don’t get excited
(till you have made money on it). Profit going in!
By low Sell High… like Sam Walton
It’s just an investment veheicle.
The owners may be so saddled with mortgages and other debt that they have no equity in the property and have nothing to lose by just abandoning it and letting creditors devour it. Ben
Re: ??Why do owners of abandond prop??? - Posted by Kevin(OK)
Posted by Kevin(OK) on December 30, 1998 at 09:06:59:
I think you need to “get into the owners head”. Ask the owner this simple question “what is your situation on the property” and they will usually open up with whatever problems they are having. Then, it is your job to figure out a way to solve their problem(s). You are on the right track, houses like these can be bought for a song because the homeowner(s) is/are usually tired of dealing with the property.
A large part of the time it is because the owners don’t really understand what it is they have. I have also found that in a number of cases the original owner did not have a probated will and the ownership of the property is in legal limbo and it will cost the current owner a lot of money to straighten out the title so they can sell it. In some large cities the city has a department that is responsible for disposing of these type of property’s. In Dallas it is the Urban Rehab and Revitilization Dept. If the property is salvageable the city will try to force the owner to rehab the property. A lot of these people just don’t have the resources to do this. If it is too far gone then the city will demolish it and bill the owner for the cost of the demolition. Then again there is a few who just don’t give a d_ _ _.