BiggerPockets

Anyone have any luck with Abandoned properties?

Typically it is a very easy process finding the onwers of the properties but will they sell and will they sell for what you have in mind? I would like to hear some feed back on this subject as I am considering jusmping into this untapped market.

All you hear about is REO, Short Sales, & pre-foreclosures but what about these properties that are left to rot, can you make a profit for both you and the neighborhood?

Thanks Ladies & Gentlemen!

not to say deals can not be had on abandon properties, but i personally would be afraid of these... after all there is probably a real good reason they are abandon?

I try to work with abandoned houses. There are a ton of them in Houston. I have closed 1 wholesale deal that was an abandoned house. I have a few birddogs that scour neighborhoods looking for these houses for me. I get tons of leads, but like I have said, have only closed on one.

The problem is finding the owners. If you cant do it yourself you can hire a skip trace, but there are no guarantees on that obviously. Even if you find the owner will they sell?

I feel it is a good niche once you can get it more streamlined, which I am trying to do.

A lot of " abandoned" property is not abandoned. If it is abandoned, the taxes and bills aren't being paid and you can buy the property from the tax assessor.

Depending upon the area and the value of the land, some investors would rather have the property sit empty than to deal with tenants. They may have plans for the land that don't involve keeping the house.

In a lower rent area, it might be cheaper to keep the house empty, because low rent income won't even cover the damage that low rent tenants can do to a place. Or perhaps the owners don't want to deal with the rent control board.

I'm not saying it isn't worth a try. Contact them and see what they say. Just don't count on every vacant house being for sale for 10 cents on the dollar. Just because it is vacant doesn't necessarily mean it is for sale.

I find this thread insteresting. Many of the 'how to flip houses' resources claim that finding vacant properties is the #1 way of finding leads.

This thread seems to contradict that.

So if y'all aren't finding vacant properties, where are you finding your leads?

I ran a few ads, asking people to bring me abandoned properties. I offered cash, and required that they knew who the owner was, or be the owner themselves. Got zero calls.

I love vacant and abandoned properties. Its one of the cheapest way to find deals. I do subscribe to a low level skip tracing service for $30 a month. I always try whitepages.com first, then the newspaper, obits, and anything else I can get my hands on.

As with all marketing strategies, being consistent and persistent with driving and researching is key. If you think you will get a deal the first time or the second time, you probably won't. If you are willing to spend 4 or 5 hours driving each week and a day or two researching, calling, and mailing, then you will probably get one every month or two. Is 80 hours a month worth $5,000 or $10,000?

As for plumbing problems and other issues, price overcomes all objections. If you get the property cheap enough does it matter if it needs a new sewer line or new water lines? Obviously you would need to factor those things into your numbers, but that's what this game is all about.

I primarily use People Finders. They normally pull a good amount of info on people and their extended family.

I wouldn't really worry about title or lien issues until you actually get a bite. Obviously once you get a contract running a title search would be essential.

The reason you got no calls back was due to the fact that they had to know who the owner was.

I figured I would try it, and see. I actually ran an ad about 6 months ago, saying " CASH FOR ABANDONED HOUSES" and left my number. No calls. I figured I would get a couple. I drove by two today, that Im going to work on. I drive by both of them often, just never pursued them.

I stay pretty busy, but Im going to get into abandoned homes a little more.

well I haven't encounter that kind of situation, maybe there's a reason why those properties are abandoned.