Vacant Home Rehab Possibility
Hello all!
Allow me to introduce myself: my name is Jonathan, I am new to BiggerPockets and very new to RE investing as well. I have only been doing my own research online and reading for a couple of months, and I have learned a lot. Of course there is still a lot to learn, and I have opportunities presenting themselves in my reality. The most exciting one (at least to me) is a property I know know to have been vacant for at least two years. I have some questions and I am asking for any help, advice, etc this community can give me!
The property was vacated a few years ago when the previous owner died. The house is in pretty poor shape, and is still full of the previous owner's things, even her car is still in the driveway. I have inspected the property (from the exterior only) personally, and happen to know that it is or was occupied by a vagrant and has some nastiness inside. Lots of broken windows and soiled floors, and likely structural/foundation issues as it was built in the 1920's. According to the county appraisal district website, the current owner is a relative who lives in another city about 8 hours away. From my own research it seems she is in her mid 90's. According to the county clerk's office, the deed is a "Special Warranty Deed."
It appears as if the current owner has no interest in fixing or occupying the property, so my goal to contact her and make a low-ball cash offer using hard money, do a full rehab/restoration, and sell it for profit. I went to the tax office the other day and found out that despite all this info, the taxes are current except for this most recent year. I don't know how to explain this yet as the taxes in this neighborhood (which is a historic neighborhood in the middle of the city) are about $21,000 annually. That leads me to believe that someone is quite aware of the value of the property. The land appraisal alone is appraised at over $700k.
So, I know the next step I need to take is contacting the owner. It has proven difficult so far, but I think I may be able to contact the owner's daughter. I hope to get permission to inspect and appraise the property, and bring a police officer with me to check for any vagrants. I don't really know if this is a realistic course of action. I just want to get inside and look at everything, get an appraisal, some comps, and some bids on the rehab, then finalize a deal with the owner, if they are willing. Is that realistic? I've contacted a real estate attorney, who should be in touch with me by tomorrow, to give me some advice. My hope is that I can make an offer to the owner (if they are interested in selling) and then do an inspection without completely committing to buying. Is that possible? Any advice?