All Forum Posts by: Dylan DeWitt

Hello, I've been wanting to get into real estate investing and I think I have found a house that would allow me to start. It is a neighbor of my grandparents. There was a lady and her niece living there, 100+ and 70+ years old, and when the older lady passed away, everything went down hill with the house and younger lady. My grandfather is very friendly with all of his neighbors and got to know her and tried to help her as much as possible, within reason. So now, a few years later, after one of the druggies she had living in the house burned down the house next door, trying to steal electricity because theirs was turned off, the house is abandoned.

So I've done a little bit of research. The mortgage was taken out in 1998 through the USDA for roughly 134k, and I believe it has not been payed off, so maybe around $60-70k left? The house is in pretty poor condition, they have sheets for garage doors, apparently they ripped out the copper heaters for the metal recycling, dogs doing their business inside on the floor, dead rat in the garage, etc. I looked up on a parcel access for my county and shows that the one 70 or so year old lady is still the primary owner. I believe she is in a nursing home, or some type of shelter.

So there is a little background...

I am looking for some input on how to go about buying the property. I have gathered from my grandfather that the lady is a little out there, so I feel like if I just said can I buy your house, she will just blow it off. Is there a way I can go through the USDA, where the loan is from? Shouldn't the house be going into foreclosure if it is abandoned, and wouldn't that mean the bank would want to get rid of it? Maybe try to get in touch with a relative to the lady to try and help out?

Just looking for any input, knowledge, ideas, strategies, anyone can provide me. Looking to learn! Thank you very much!