Leveraging a $240k Septic Lien to Purchase a Property

Leveraging a $240k Septic Lien to Purchase a Property

Sarasota, FL · Member since 2016 · 9 posts · 3 votes

Hey everyone, I wanted to get some feedback on a strategy to leverage a septic violation lien to acquire a property.

I am currently negotiating with an Asset Manager on a REO property that has an ongoing septic violation and a $240k (estimated) lien that has been accumulating at $50/day since 2005. The bank is trying to sell as is for $310k cash only and pass the lien and septic issue off to the buyer.

My plan would be to offer $50k in cash to purchase the property and assume responsibility for both the septic issue and the lien. After repairing the septic violation (estimated $20K), I would go through the reduction hearing process to have the lien reduced as much as possible. I have seen other members post that they have had reductions of 15-90% once the issue has been resolved. After six months I would get a mortgage for up to $310k to cover my purchase price, septic repair, and the final lien amount.  

If this strategy worked, the worst case scenario is that the lien is not reduced and my total cost for the property is $310K. Best case scenario is that the lien is reduced by 90% or more and my total cost is $94k.

Is there anything obvious that I am missing on this strategy?

0Reply
15 views

2 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • Rental Property Investor · Sarasota, FL · Member since 2017 · 81 posts · 41 votes
    6y

    Hey! Did you ever buy this, and how did it all work out?!

  • Sarasota, FL · Member since 2016 · 9 posts · 3 votes
    6y

    Hey Andrew, 


    I was able to negotiate with the county and they agreed to reduce the lien to $5,500 to just cover their costs. However, the bank decided to fix the septic issue and auction it again. Unfortunately, the winning bid was higher then we were willing to go so we didn’t get the property.

Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.