Deal #3 Helping out a friend of the family

Unusual and unexpected circumstances. Long time next door neighbor died suddenly during a family visit to San Antonio in 2009 during a massive heat wave. By coincidence, her sister had died days before, and their nephew inherited two houses. He lived in Austin 80 miles away and did not want to deal with renting or selling hassles, and wanted to sell them and be done with it. I offered to use my old contacts from Deal #2 to see if I could make something happen.

The houses had about $2,700 in outstanding taxes, as well as deferred maintenance issues. I also helped the nephew with probate issues, as well helped him deal with a lien that seemed unconnected to any activities of the former owners. It took me a bit over two months to work out the details of the sale.

His opening offer of $37,500 for the two houses, eventually settled for $18,000 cash, to an investor who rented out both. I didn't want to gain too much from the death of an old family friend, and set out to get enough to cover my expenses, so I asked the nephew for $750 after they closed.

My net profits were minimal given the time I spent on the deal, but doing so helped out the family of a former neighbor, and I learned how to deal with a new set of problems involving settling the estate.