All Forum Posts by: Mark Elliott

i agree with doug and ned.  if there is a tax lien, then, of course, these people have not been paying taxes. all they want is the money they can get without shelling out any expenses of their own. i would make an offer, close o asking price, contingent upon getting inside, and doing an inspection; then, lower the price based upon what you see. if they will not agree to letting you in, make them a lowball offer based upon the assumption that the place is gutted. as far as the tax lien, if you really want the place, go buy the tax lien from the county. in new york state, you can automatically add a 14% intrest cost onto that which the owners have to pay you when it sells. if they do not pay up in 2 years, you can get a deed to the place. then go wave that in their face and see how quick they move on your lowball offer

hi derrick. what you have here is what i think is a gem. not only could you get this place cheap, but you get the challenge of finding who you buy it from. success with both gives you double the satisfaction. i dealt with a similar deal. first, you found the daughter.  so you have your lead. if the town has a lein on it, so be it, but if they have not foreclosed on it, its not them that you deal with at this moment, its her. you need to call her right away.  there is a very very strong chance that she will not want to even deal with it. she probably has long ago forgotten about it and will not want to deal with it. first, you have to find out if she is the only heir. if she is, great, if not, you need to deal with all the heirs. dealing with one is easier. second, talk her into giving it to you if she does not want it. offer her some money just to sign off it. get a quit claim deed and get her to sign it with a copy of the parents death certificates. next, call the town, find out how much in back taxes is owed, how many liens are owed, etc. this will be your leverage to get the daughter to just give it to you. 

as long as the town has not foreclosed on it for back liens, you will deal with her. if the town has foreclosed, then you deal with them and not her. this sounds like a house i would jump all over, derrick. don't let this one slip away from you. good luck

hello, willetta. i live and invest in the western new york area. i am also a home inspector licensed in new york as well. there is an investors meeting tonight at the olympic resturant on sheridan and military rd at 7 pm. very good to go to. you get to hear other peoples stories and link up with other investors and contractors. hope to see you there

hi heather. many bookstores and stationary places have the necessary documents you are looking for. office max, office depot, etc. but, some counties do not accept these. some county clerks require exactly what they want in order to complete your transaction. i would start by going to the county clerks office and ask them for all the papers you will need to complete this transaction. they can be very helpful at times even though they are state employees.......lol

hi robert. welcome to BP and real estate investing. one thing you have going for you is your age. i have always regretted not doing this much sooner in life. that being said, you do have a lot to learn. there are so many ways to buy real estate in this world, we all simply could not list them here in this forum. most are very creative in nature. FHA is definitely a way to buy, yes, but there are so many other ways. buying in the conventional manner, i. e, seeing an agent and buying a house on the listing service, is ok, but your best deals are not there. in fact, your best deals aren't even listed, anywhere!!! you will find your best deals just driving around, and checking preforeclosure lists, etc. tax sales are a great way to find hidden gems. i do not know how good you are at doing the fixer upper thing, but distressed properties are a great way to start. they usually require little money to purchase, and give you great experience at rehabbing a house, and in the end, quite often, yield the best rate of return. keep one thing in mind. i admire your desire to grow big by expanding into LA and other high dollar areas, but remember, high dollar areas do not necessarily mean a high dollar return. my advice? find your best, unlisted, low dollar deals and stick with that game.

looks to me that it is a natural gas pipe line for an old space heater that once sat there. did the place have an old space heater there at one time? i would go in the basement or crawl space below it and see it there is another shut off valve on this line. if there is, remove the piping after that valve and to this one. cap off the lower valve and leave it in the off position. no need to have this thing sticking up thru the floor if you are not going to use it here

hi kate. i am in buffalo, ny too. i would be happy to look at it for you. let me know

i currently have under contract a single family home in a largely rental area 5 miles south of buffalo, ny. 3 bed, 1 bath, full basement, decent size yard. thats the good. the bad, it has not been lived in for many years. in fact, it had a fire in the kitchen and has some damage in there. smoke damage in the house as well. will probably need a total rehab, but still a good deal. just putting the " feelers" out there to see who might be interested in the place for $12,000

hi karl. sounds like you actually have a good start here in this business. bill is partly right. of all the answers here, i think he has some good advice. that being said, you need the think outside of the box here. you said you will have $80k into the place if you fix it up to basic standards, and it would be worth $150k. ok, those numbers are great. but here is an idea you don't seem to be considering. you own the house free and clear. no mortgage to anyone. you and your buddy want cash out of the deal. then your only option right now that really makes sense is to finish the place to basic standards, go refinance the place for what the bank will lend you, split that money and then rent the place out to make the payments. you get the benefit of getting all your money back, plus a few buck on the side i would bet, and when you rent it out, the tenant is making your payments. whats wrong with that idea??? nothing. if the house is worth $150, and you have $80 into it, what bank would not lend you $100 on it, or $120? you get all your money back and then some, and still own the house with someone else making your payments. then, if you decide to further your rehab and sell it down the road, you will probably make even more money. check into it and see where it goes. good luck

hi ellen. i can answer your last question. whenever a bank or other lending institution starts a foreclosure, they have to file papers with the county in which the house is in. go to the county court house and look up the papers filed on this house and/ or person. it will list the bank that is involved. but, it sounds like you have an unwilling owner here. usually, you can out right ask the owner who the bank is and they will answer you. they will have numerous letters from the bank and how to contact them about it. most mortgages have the " due on sale clause" in the original contract. so, if the owner sells to you, the bank has the right to call in the loan then and there, which means for you, you could find yourself paying up the entire mortgage just to keep the house. good luck to you