Touchy Subject: Foreclosure, Divorce and an Unfinished House
I live in a town in Northern NJ right outside of NYC. Within that town is an even smaller neighborhood...basically a larger cul de sac with about 50 houses...where everyone knows everyone. There's a new construction house in the center of the neighborhood, right next to the park where all the children and parents hang out, that's been sitting at about 60-70% completed for probably the last 18 months. I'd love to buy it as once its finished it could probably sell for around $700k. It probably needs another $150k worth of work at most.
After doing some digging, I was able to find out that the construction stopped because the owners are going through a divorce. Last week, as I was walking my dogs I noticed workers boarding the place up. After talking with them I learned that the building was about to go into foreclosure. The double whammy.
Any advice on how best to approach the owner to see how I could help his situation and ease the burden of it all by buying his house? Knowing its a small neighborhood with no secrets, its definitely a touchy subject and I want to make him feel comfortable enough to chat to figure it out.
Thanks in advance!