All Forum Posts by: Sylvia B.

Just say no.

The church we bought it from had a survey done, and the surveyor created a new legal description for the land we bought. Then the heirs of the original owner signed deeds with the correct legal description to the church and to the people who bought the rest of the property. Then there was a quit claim deed from the neighbors (multiple owners) to the church, and finally, a deed from the church to us.

A mess, yes, but all we had to do was wait. The lesson to be learned is be sure to use a very good title company.

It is home. For me, the only thing missing is a beach within a 2 hour drive. :-)

Pros:
It's NOT California (grew up in San Jose in the 70's)
4 seasons (occasionally all in one week!)
Friendly people, but not too many of them
Clean air & water
Low cost of living

Cons:
Finding good produce can be challenging
Ticks
No beaches (lakes are not the same thing)
Low rents 

Hubby and I specialize in SFRs in our small town. We buy distressed houses, rehab (doing much of the work ourselves,) then find quality renters and treat them right. We pay cash, and have $35k to $90k in each house, including rehab.

We do cash deals, so we normally close in 1 to 2 weeks. One deal took considerably longer due to title issues.

We bought a house at auction (not tax or foreclosure, just a regular auction) and assumed it would be smooth sailing, but no. The land was originally part of a large tract of land (the whole block) owned by a prominent family. In 1964 a portion was donated to the Methodist church, and a house was built for a parsonage. It had never changed hands since.

A few days after our purchase the lady who does our title work stopped in to see us, "There's a problem..."

The property description was wrong. Not only wrong, it made no sense. The original sellers were all deceased, so it couldn't just be corrected. A few years ago their estate sold the rest of the original tract, and the legal description for that sale reads, Beginning at the Southwest corner of [blah, blah, blah] except [parcel deeded to church].

A survey was done, and besides the completely nonsensical property description, in the original plat of that neighborhood, which was never officially changed, the city had planned a street right through the garage. So the title company requested that the city vacate their claim to that strip of land, which they were willing to do, but the man who needed to sign the papers was on vacation, so there was a delay.

Multiple corrected deeds needed to be signed, and several of the people who needed to sign were out of state - more delays. There were questions about the marital state of some of the people who needed to sign. More delays. One of the local signers has a rather mercurial temperament. First she is quite agreeable, then can't be bothered, then contacts the title agent and wants to know why it all hasn't been finished yet. It's difficult to schedule meetings with someone like that, so more delays.

After more than 3 months, it finally closed. Success.

I'm not familiar with the Jefferson City area, but I actually live in the Mark Twain National Forest. (That doesn't tell you much - it's huge.) 

Where in MO? North or south? Rural or urban? Different areas are worlds apart. 

Yes, generally speaking, you can buy land to build on.

What is "tillable wood"? The ground is tilled for planting, and that's hard to do between trees.

Should you lease farmland? Well, are you planning to farm?

So change this to a roof leak. Owner hires inspector, who finds evidence of a leaking roof. Owner fixes/replaces roof and all water damaged materials in the house. Looking at it now, no one would know there had ever been a roof leak.

Buyer hires same inspector, who does a new inspection of the house. Roof is not leaking, and there is no indication that it has in the past. 

Is the inspector obligated to report the prior roof leak to the buyer? If so, is there a time limit on this obligation? Say a year has passed between the inspections, or 5 years, or 10 years. Is he still obligated?

Hubby & I are 62 & 59. We currently own 13 SFRs, free & clear.

@Jim K. I am very concerned for you! That is dirty money. Dirty dirty dirty! Do not sully yourself or your investments by using it. Package it up and mail it to me, I will dispose of it properly for you. It may be dangerous, but as your friend I will take the risk.

None of my tenants have missed or been late on a payment this year. We never had a moratorium on evictions, but the courts were closed until the end of May.