Negotiating with Medicaid?
I'm looking for some advice from those who have purchased a home that involves Medicaid's approval.
Backstory: there is a property for sale that I really like but the price is a little too high right now. It is priced at the value of the county's tax assessment. The listing agent tells me that the price is non-negotiable due to it having been set by Medicaid (the owner is in an assisted living facility).
My experience with Medicaid and real estate is limited to when my grandmother had to pay the equivalent of her apartment's rent payment to Medicaid after she moved into assisted living.
The agent also shared that once the asking price is offered there will not be any drawn out period of having to get approval by Medicaid. In essence, the sale will move forward like a traditional sale.
Questions:
1) Does anyone have experience in negotiating the price? The value is in the land.... as the house is going to be taken down to the joists and studs. Nothing else is salvageable. That is why the price is higher than I would offer in a traditional (or even foreclosure) type of sale.
2) I have a feeling that the house is owned free and clear so I do not think that the Medicaid lien would be more than then assessed value. Is there something else specific to Medicaid I should be looking for or considering that I am not?
Thanks in advance.