FOUND: $642K and gold behind a water heater

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
General Real Estate Investing
2yFollow

FOUND: $642K and gold behind a water heater

Jim K.
Handyman · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2018 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes

Hi, I recently bought a free-and-clear house at the local tax auction for $25K, When I claimed it, the former owner had left everything in place and it needed a cleanout. So my guys were down to the basement and looked behind the water heater. They found a cavity in the foundation with the cash mentioned in used twenty-dollar bills with random serial numbers wrapped in opaque plastic food wrap, and a sealed Home Depot Homer bucket behind it. The bucket was halfway filled with South African Krugerrands and American Eagle gold coins. On top of everything was a plastic sleeve with an old-timey baseball card in it of some dude named Joe Doyle. I'm just lucky my guys called me before they threw the bucket and the bundle away.

I have no expertise in this sort of thing and don't know how I should invest this unexpected windfall. Can anyone help me deal with this?

9Reply
204 views

Most Popular Reply

Nicholas L.Pro Member
Flipper/Rehabber · Pittsburgh · Member since 2018 · 6k+ posts · 5k+ votes
2y

@Jim K.

I am assuming that this was in either Cleveland, Ohio or Columbus, Ohio.  I would propose re-investing all of the proceeds in additional properties in Cleveland, Ohio or Columbus, Ohio, in which it seems like you are highly likely to secure additional windfalls, after which you will own the majority of properties in Cleveland, Ohio or Columbus, Ohio.


12Reply
See this reply in the discussion

56 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • Dan Thomas
    Rental Property Investor · Bow, NH · Member since 2016 · 216 posts · 185 votes
    2y

    @Jim K.

    Slides are steel though

    2Reply
  • Mike ReynoldsPro Member
    construction · Nacogdoches, TX · Member since 2011 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    2y
    Quote from @Jim K.:
    Quote from @Rick Albert:

    That could be considered personal property and belong to the previous owner. I would get an attorney involved and ask about the ramifications of keeping it.

    The place was sold free-and-clear. That means whatever's there is mine, right? I mean, no one told me to go find the owner of the cat skeleton I found at the first place I ever bought at a tax auction.


     Don’t listen to the naysayers. When I found that Rembrandt in the basement in New Jersey, I was told to put it in a museum and they sold it for big bucks. Never again. The next Rembrandt I find will be all mine. 

    3Reply
  • Mike ReynoldsPro Member
    construction · Nacogdoches, TX · Member since 2011 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    2y
    Quote from @Jim K.:

    @Chris John

    What an obvious lying bastard. Glocks have polymer frames and don't rust.


    Hahaha. 
    1Reply
  • Corey ConklinPro Member
    Investor · Member since 2021 · 129 posts · 209 votes
    2y

    That is quite the find! Most the time all we find is animals (dead or alive), spoiled food, feces, etc. so it's nice to hear someone find something that isn't any of those items! The best find I ever had was a plastic kiddie pool with a built in slide in an old tool shed that was left behind so it definitely beats me.

    I know most people would advise reinvesting your findings or maybe splurging on something you've always wanted like a car, vacation, trip to space, or a pony. But all joking aside you have an incredible opportunity to do something way bigger than any of those things. With that amount of money you have an incredible opportunity to change countless lives by finding ways to give it away to causes/people that are important to you.

    At the end of the day you can do what you want with it because of the rule we all learned in grade school - "Finders, Keepers"

    Again, congrats on the huge score! Maybe one day I'll find something like that but until then I'll just enjoy chilling with the kids in the kiddie pool.

    0Reply
  • Scott TrenchPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Denver, CO · Member since 2014 · 2k+ posts · 6k+ votes
    2y

    Congratulations on your excellent fortune, Jim!

    Multifufamily is a great way to invest extra cash and I will happily separate you from your newfound riches. I recently paid $50K for access to a “tribe” where I, as a complete newb with no relevant industry experience at all, was taught to stand up a webpage touting the benefits of multifamily and then come and start posting here.

    I was taught to attempt to attract money from people like you who have recently come into a large pile of wealth and have no plan whatsoever.

    What I will do is take your money, and give it to this random other person in my $50K mentorship program who also has basically no experience raising and deploying capital.

    When I give them $100K I have raised from you, I will be given a 10% finders fee of $10K. I promise not to disclose this incentive to you.

    Then the syndicator will generate a 2.5% fee for buying a building, charge you 2.5% for managing the asset, another 2.5% to sell or refinance it. the GP LP carried interest split will be 70/30 on the huge pile of money we will make. I will also not tell you about this.

    And oops, all your money is gone because it was actually a bad deal in the first place. And neither I nor the person I funneled your money to nor the person putting on the “mastermind” had any idea what we are doing. 

    Luckily you still have the gold and baseball card…. Because I I have this new deal that's GUARANTEED 17% IRR. You in?

    Podcast Guest on Show #223
    BiggerPockets
    4Reply
  • Scott TrenchPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Denver, CO · Member since 2014 · 2k+ posts · 6k+ votes
    2y

    (Please note that now that we are aware of this BS, we regularly kick these people out when we find them)

    Podcast Guest on Show #223
    BiggerPockets
    3Reply
  • Spencer Speckles
    Investor · Pittsburgh · Member since 2023 · 23 posts · 6 votes
    2y

    Hahaha. I think you’re ready to buy my apartment building, now.

    Thought exercise: You can sell the house, bucket included, for $1M. The capital gains ($975k) can be used in a “like kind” 1031 transfer for another property.

    The person who buys the property from you can depreciate the bucket over 28 years plus earn interest on it’s contents while it’s in the bank. 

    1Reply
  • Carlos Ptriawan
    Member since 2019 · 7k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    2y
    Quote from @Jim K.:

    Hi, I recently bought a free-and-clear house at the local tax auction for $25K, When I claimed it, the former owner had left everything in place and it needed a cleanout. So my guys were down to the basement and looked behind the water heater. They found a cavity in the foundation with the cash mentioned in used twenty-dollar bills with random serial numbers wrapped in opaque plastic food wrap, and a sealed Home Depot Homer bucket behind it. The bucket was halfway filled with South African Krugerrands and American Eagle gold coins. On top of everything was a plastic sleeve with an old-timey baseball card in it of some dude named Joe Doyle. I'm just lucky my guys called me before they threw the bucket and the bundle away.

    I have no expertise in this sort of thing and don't know how I should invest this unexpected windfall. Can anyone help me deal with this?


     any photo ? lol

    0Reply
  • Mike ReynoldsPro Member
    construction · Nacogdoches, TX · Member since 2011 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    2y
    Quote from @Scott Trench:

    Congratulations on your excellent fortune, Jim!

    Multifufamily is a great way to invest extra cash and I will happily separate you from your newfound riches. I recently paid $50K for access to a “tribe” where I, as a complete newb with no relevant industry experience at all, was taught to stand up a webpage touting the benefits of multifamily and then come and start posting here.

    I was taught to attempt to attract money from people like you who have recently come into a large pile of wealth and have no plan whatsoever.

    What I will do is take your money, and give it to this random other person in my $50K mentorship program who also has basically no experience raising and deploying capital.

    When I give them $100K I have raised from you, I will be given a 10% finders fee of $10K. I promise not to disclose this incentive to you.

    Then the syndicator will generate a 2.5% fee for buying a building, charge you 2.5% for managing the asset, another 2.5% to sell or refinance it. the GP LP carried interest split will be 70/30 on the huge pile of money we will make. I will also not tell you about this.

    And oops, all your money is gone because it was actually a bad deal in the first place. And neither I nor the person I funneled your money to nor the person putting on the “mastermind” had any idea what we are doing. 

    Luckily you still have the gold and baseball card…. Because I I have this new deal that's GUARANTEED 17% IRR. You in?

    The check is in the mail Scott. I can’t wait to get that mailbox money while living in Barbados. 
    2Reply
  • Jim K.
    OP
    Handyman · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2018 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes
    2y
    Quote from @Scott Trench:

    (Please note that now that we are aware of this BS, we regularly kick these people out when we find them)


     Quadruple like. Thank you for constantly fightig the good fight, Scott. You're one of the main reasons $642K in cash really wouldn't change my life much these days.

    2Reply
  • James De Stefano
    Real Estate Agent · Houston, TX · Member since 2017 · 292 posts · 233 votes
    2y

    Welp... that's a lot better than what I found with the last house clean out. 

    1/8 of Tequila 

    1 tiny piece of the green sticky icky

    some frozen Jack Daniels Pork 

    I had a decent 15 minute party w/ my found treasure 

    2Reply
  • Bob S.
    Real Estate Consultant · Cleveland · Member since 2020 · 6k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    2y
    Quote from @Jim K.:

    Hi, I recently bought a free-and-clear house at the local tax auction for $25K, When I claimed it, the former owner had left everything in place and it needed a cleanout. So my guys were down to the basement and looked behind the water heater. They found a cavity in the foundation with the cash mentioned in used twenty-dollar bills with random serial numbers wrapped in opaque plastic food wrap, and a sealed Home Depot Homer bucket behind it. The bucket was halfway filled with South African Krugerrands and American Eagle gold coins. On top of everything was a plastic sleeve with an old-timey baseball card in it of some dude named Joe Doyle. I'm just lucky my guys called me before they threw the bucket and the bundle away.

    I have no expertise in this sort of thing and don't know how I should invest this unexpected windfall. Can anyone help me deal with this?

     BS 

    1Reply
  • Account Closed
    Rental Property Investor · Brooke Park Drive · Member since 2018 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    2y
    Quote from @Jim K.:
    Quote from @Wesley I.:

    @Jim K.

    See if you have coin appraisers in the area, go to at least a couple of them to get a better idea.

    For the baseball cards, you can go online and see how much they go for.

    Congratulations! My recent find was bags of half dollar coins in the attic.


    Thank you for your advice! Yeah, before this, all I'd ever found was a deck of playing cards with 52 sexual positions on the back.


     Please send to me for review, so I can verify authenticity. 

    1Reply
  • Bob S.
    Real Estate Consultant · Cleveland · Member since 2020 · 6k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    2y
    Quote from @Account Closed:
    Quote from @Jim K.:
    Quote from @Wesley I.:

    @Jim K.

    See if you have coin appraisers in the area, go to at least a couple of them to get a better idea.

    For the baseball cards, you can go online and see how much they go for.

    Congratulations! My recent find was bags of half dollar coins in the attic.


    Thank you for your advice! Yeah, before this, all I'd ever found was a deck of playing cards with 52 sexual positions on the back.


     Please send to me for review, so I can verify authenticity. 


     It seems the post was meant as a joke, 

    1Reply
  • Jim K.
    OP
    Handyman · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2018 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes
    2y
    Quote from @Bob S.:
    Quote from @Jim K.:

    Hi, I recently bought a free-and-clear house at the local tax auction for $25K, When I claimed it, the former owner had left everything in place and it needed a cleanout. So my guys were down to the basement and looked behind the water heater. They found a cavity in the foundation with the cash mentioned in used twenty-dollar bills with random serial numbers wrapped in opaque plastic food wrap, and a sealed Home Depot Homer bucket behind it. The bucket was halfway filled with South African Krugerrands and American Eagle gold coins. On top of everything was a plastic sleeve with an old-timey baseball card in it of some dude named Joe Doyle. I'm just lucky my guys called me before they threw the bucket and the bundle away.

    I have no expertise in this sort of thing and don't know how I should invest this unexpected windfall. Can anyone help me deal with this?

     BS 

     Now if it had happened in Cleveland...

    0Reply
  • Bob S.
    Real Estate Consultant · Cleveland · Member since 2020 · 6k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    2y
    Quote from @Jim K.:
    Quote from @Bob S.:
    Quote from @Jim K.:

    Hi, I recently bought a free-and-clear house at the local tax auction for $25K, When I claimed it, the former owner had left everything in place and it needed a cleanout. So my guys were down to the basement and looked behind the water heater. They found a cavity in the foundation with the cash mentioned in used twenty-dollar bills with random serial numbers wrapped in opaque plastic food wrap, and a sealed Home Depot Homer bucket behind it. The bucket was halfway filled with South African Krugerrands and American Eagle gold coins. On top of everything was a plastic sleeve with an old-timey baseball card in it of some dude named Joe Doyle. I'm just lucky my guys called me before they threw the bucket and the bundle away.

    I have no expertise in this sort of thing and don't know how I should invest this unexpected windfall. Can anyone help me deal with this?

     BS 

     Now if it had happened in Cleveland...


     Not sure what you mean. However, we all are aware this post is just a joke. 

    0Reply
  • Matthew Gentile
    Real Estate Agent · Worcester, MA · Member since 2023 · 88 posts · 52 votes
    2y

    642k in twenties, is a hell of a wad. Stack that up you get about 120 foot stack if my googled math is correct. 

    You ought to take that baseball card and trade it for an even bigger house, I hear 1031 takes baseball cards now. As for the gold, what is this the 1920s throw that junk away we are here for bitcoin now. 

    Congratulations on hitting it big!

    1Reply
  • Jim K.
    OP
    Handyman · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2018 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes
    2y
    Quote from @Matthew Gentile:

    642k in twenties, is a hell of a wad. Stack that up you get about 120 foot stack if my googled math is correct. 

    You ought to take that baseball card and trade it for an even bigger house, I hear 1031 takes baseball cards now. As for the gold, what is this the 1920s throw that junk away we are here for bitcoin now. 

    Congratulations on hitting it big!


    Well, I don't know about your googled math, but I can tell you that the cash measures out to four stacks of a bit less than three feet each, and the bundle weighs a bit more than seventy pounds.

    1Reply
  • Jim K.
    OP
    Handyman · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2018 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes
    2y
    Quote from @Bob S.:
    Quote from @Account Closed:
    Quote from @Jim K.:
    Quote from @Wesley I.:

    @Jim K.

    See if you have coin appraisers in the area, go to at least a couple of them to get a better idea.

    For the baseball cards, you can go online and see how much they go for.

    Congratulations! My recent find was bags of half dollar coins in the attic.


    Thank you for your advice! Yeah, before this, all I'd ever found was a deck of playing cards with 52 sexual positions on the back.


     Please send to me for review, so I can verify authenticity. 


     It seems the post was meant as a joke, 


    The real joke, Bob, is how many people have contacted me directly with offers to invest this money with them.

    3Reply
  • Matthew Gentile
    Real Estate Agent · Worcester, MA · Member since 2023 · 88 posts · 52 votes
    2y

    Seventy pounds is nothing to a professional investor, we lift the weight of the world everyday. 

    1Reply
  • Jim K.
    OP
    Handyman · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2018 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes
    2y

    @Matthew Gentile

    My strength is as the strength of ten because my heart is pure.

    2Reply
  • Matthew Gentile
    Real Estate Agent · Worcester, MA · Member since 2023 · 88 posts · 52 votes
    2y

    As long as your sword is true. You cannot fail. The baseball card collection will be completed. Even if it takes 10,000 jokes... 

    Go with God, King of Handymen.

    0Reply
  • Jim K.
    OP
    Handyman · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2018 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes
    2y
    Quote from @Account Closed:
    Quote from @Jim K.:
    Quote from @Wesley I.:

    @Jim K.

    See if you have coin appraisers in the area, go to at least a couple of them to get a better idea.

    For the baseball cards, you can go online and see how much they go for.

    Congratulations! My recent find was bags of half dollar coins in the attic.


    Thank you for your advice! Yeah, before this, all I'd ever found was a deck of playing cards with 52 sexual positions on the back.


     Please send to me for review, so I can verify authenticity. 


     Wife did not let me keep the cards. They were very seventy-ish. Lush facial and body hair.

    2Reply
  • Jim K.
    OP
    Handyman · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2018 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes
    2y
    Quote from @Mike Reynolds:
    Quote from @Jim K.:
    Quote from @Rick Albert:

    That could be considered personal property and belong to the previous owner. I would get an attorney involved and ask about the ramifications of keeping it.

    The place was sold free-and-clear. That means whatever's there is mine, right? I mean, no one told me to go find the owner of the cat skeleton I found at the first place I ever bought at a tax auction.


     Don’t listen to the naysayers. When I found that Rembrandt in the basement in New Jersey, I was told to put it in a museum and they sold it for big bucks. Never again. The next Rembrandt I find will be all mine. 

    Next year, Mike, it's going to be a trove of found Nazi art or bearer bonds. Haven't decided yet. The baseball card really sold it this year.
    2Reply
  • Scott Mac
    Austin, TX · Member since 2019 · 5k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    2y

    I don't know why, but this seems to fit for some reason: 

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OcM23Hbs5U

    1Reply
Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.
Log InJoin for Free