Investor · Bay Area, CA · Member since 2015 · 19 posts · 14 votes
Hello fellow BP members. I'm a newbie to BP in the Bay Area and have been amazed with all the Q&A support from the community. Very impressive!
Background / Question to the community...owners of SFH had their home caught on fire several years ago. The home has been boarded up with no one living inside. I know of friends whom tried to contact the owner a few years ago to purchase the place but they decline to entertain the idea. There are weeds growing in the backyard that appears the home is abandon. I've checked the property tax dues and their being paid on time. The property tax is about $2000 leaving me to believe they are the original owners and possibly own it clear and free. I've checked on Zillow (not the most accurate site but...) and the property is roughly 1 million.
Any ideas on how to approach the owners to purchase the home?
Any ideas on financing...I'm thinking of possibly seller financing given the owners have not repaired the damages they may not have a ton of money.
I would contact them and just ask them what their plans for the property are. Perhaps they owned it free and clear and did not have it insured when it caught on fire and they do not have the money to make the repairs. Find out what their need is and solve it. You will likely solve yours too.
@ Charlie. Thanks for the advice...I was thinking the same as once the property is clear and free there's no requirement to have insurance. Are there forms or information that I can view for seller financing?
@ Charlie. Thanks for the advice...I was thinking the same as once the property is clear and free there's no requirement to have insurance. Are there forms or information that I can view for seller financing?
@ Jo-Ann. I'm not an agent
Hi Amos, I want to mention to that insurance is always important, especially for you now as a REI. I think what @Charlie Fitzgerald was saying is that they had taken the unwise choice to not purchase insurance, maybe because they owned it free and clear.
So if this is true, it's an example to you of the stark reality of not having insurance (again, in our case as investors, it's crucial)
Regarding the previous contact with the owners, things change, minds change with time. Maybe this is the perfect moment to reach out to them again. I'm confident it won't sit there for another 20 years without any action taken.
If they still cannot do anything about it themselves, at some point they're gonna be happy to talk with someone like you.