War Zone properties ? too many violations liens?

Question

I have been trying to put together some deals lately but it seems the properties I am getting have so many liens and violations attached to them that everytime I have a buyer it comes back too much? I am curious as to if this is normal and if you can still flip these properties or are some areas you just don't want to be bothered in with deals? What do you guys recommend for these deals? Should I stick to driving for dollars in areas that have less problems? Or should I go through all these headaches with title liens etc

Wayne Brooks · Answer

Yes, a vacant house doesn't necessarily make it a deal.  An investor won't want a house on a block full of boarded up houses, even for free.  You can of course run a quick prelim search yourself on the Clerk's Official Records site, for recorded liens, in a few minutes.

Osvaldo Valdes · Answer

Thanks for posting this , it was informative and will help when I start investing since I live in Broward. I'm young ambtious and have good credit just need to build up some funds before I dive into RE investing. Maybe one day we can all meet for lunch/drinks and share ideas.

Ossie Valdes

Wayne Brooks · Answer

Personally, unless you know the specific areas very well, I'd shy away from Miami and concentrate more on Broward.  Most cities there, Pembroke pines, Miramar, Cooper city, Margate, etc. all have older properties, and are desirable areas.

By the way,

PB county

http://www.pbcgov.com/papa/Asps/GeneralAdvSrch/SearchPage.aspx

http://www.mypalmbeachclerk.com/officialrecords/search.aspx

Broward

http://www.bcpa.net/RecMenu.asp

https://205.166.161.12/oncoreV2/

Account Closed · Answer

Hey Joel! Thanks for the response, Can you tell me which type of properties in paticular.. For example would these be lower to middle class areas where properties are worth 80-120k ? I know in Miami there are all different types and the ones with a lot of vacant houses on the street are more difficult. I am also wondering if maybe in a smaller city like West Palm Beach, etc if it is easier to negioate with the city on liens since they don't have as many as Miami and may need the money more. They may be easier to work with I know the offices in Miami are typically a mess and over populated

Joel Owens · Answer

Hi John,

Your time involved in something has to look at the return for the involvement.

Years ago I would work on getting listings for apartments. Some owners would call back with totally vacant buildings. I took some of those on but after having to work a short sale, get the bank to agree to waive a deficiency against borrower, negotiate water liens down with the city attorneys and the watershed department, work on other lien holders including back property taxes it's too much work.

The units would be gut jobs on the inside and you had to do months of negotiations where I would make only 6k or so in commission because the units would sell for a few k each.

I do not mess with these types of properties anymore. Too much work for too little return. I focus on performing to semi-performing properties as they trade at much higher prices and thus my return for the time spent is way, way higher.

Many are looking for the best return, in the least amount of time possible, with the least amount of work.

Account Closed · Answer

Ok got it so maybe spending my time in better areas, yeah I think Liberty city is the worst of all of south Florida would you agree?

Wayne Brooks · Answer

Liberty City is the first place I thought of when reading your post.  I personally wouldn't spend any time looking there just because it is such a war zone, and takes a certain type of investor to want to be there.

I can't link them from the IPAD, but if you google the county name along with- property appraiser office, and Official Records Search you'll find them.  Official records search is where you'll find the recorded liens, searching by owner name.  The property appraiser office will give you the owner name, along with sales history, legal desc. etc, when searching by address.

Account Closed · Answer

Also if you guys are familiar with Miami the area that I keep getting this in is liberty city by 62nd and 68th st where tons of houses are boarded up, I may be best just passing on these deals all together instead of wasting time finding a buyer than having all these liens come up

Account Closed · Answer

Ok got it! so since you guys are both in South Florida, I am trying to figure out why I keep wasting on properties that seem to have all these liens and violations on them. do you know the website off hand for Miami, Fort lauderdale, and Palm Beach counties to look up ahead of time? My best bet would be before making an offer etc to look up the properties and get a quick search of the headaches before right?

Dion DePaoli · Answer

Some areas are more prone than others. You can, from time to time, negotiate some of the city and municipal liens down or away. (or any lien for that matter) If you pull the lien and call the lien holder they 'may' give you a reduced payoff.  That said, some municipalities have zero desire to allow a discount.  
	
	In my experience, it is not uncommon to see a large building violation lien which costs a fraction of the line to fix.  Simply fix, reinspect and pay the reinspect fee and all done.  
	
	HOA liens, not so easy.  Smaller municipal liens not so easy (they already have money problems).  
	
	If you are trying to work properties in this sort of state, you best get a little better at dealing with these liens.  They are generally conducive to abandoned homes and neighborhoods.  Perhaps even to a point where you offer a better 'package' to your client with remedies to the liens identified or similar.  
	
	Keep in mind, there are those you will not reduce or work through.  Need to know when to cut chase, for sure.

Whether or not you want to play with those as a function of your time is up to you.

War Zone properties ? too many violations liens?

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