All Forum Posts by: Sylvia Castellanos

This is very region-specific, and probably will not be of interest to anyone outside Lackwanna County, PA.

I own five vacant lots there. I bought several of them when I was only starting to invest in land, and made unwise choice I would not make today. Yesterday I received five letters, one for each lot, telling me that properties were being reassessed, with new amounts going into effect in 2026. Their proposed reassessments ranged from $13,000 for a lot that turned out to be a rainwater management basin and will never be buildable, to $70,000 for a lot that is 3,000 square feet short of qualifying for septic, and therefore is also unbuildable. In between there are two lots which are okay and they want to assess at $55,000. The problem is that the lots of that size and in that locations which are recently sold have been bought for between $17,000 - $20,000. The notices say I can appeal and bring documents that include recent comps, so I will certainly do that.

The reason I am writing this is to ask if there are other land investors or realtors who have dealt with this function of Lackawanna County before, and if there are insights they can give me.

By the way, I have now been sent a replacement deed by the county. Since it is just a replacement of what I was originally issued, it shows my name as Sylvia Asturias, but at least I have a physical document.

Chris, I would love it if you could get me a corrective deed for Pennsylvania, or tell me where to find one, and what the procedure is for making it official.

 Tyson, this is extremely helpful! Thank you.

I really have two related questions:

Can I put my own home into a trust if the deed says Sylvia Asturias but the trust is the Sylvia Castellanos Living Trust, BUT I have the court documents memorializing the change in name (ie, I am the same person)?

As a (somewhat) separate matter, I find that I cannot find the deed to my house, which was handed to me in 1998. So I have a two-part question. 1) To get the deed replaced, is the process that I ask the Recorder of Deeds to do it for a fee? and as a separate question 2) If I show the court documents granting me the name change, will they give me a deed in the name of Sylvia Castellanos?

I know you explain that they want to be sure I don't mess up.  Merely changing the last name from Asturias to Castellanos and changing nothing else anywhere is a very low bar. And there is a bigger point here. Because of the tradition of taking on the husband's last name, and perhaps reverting to their maiden name in the case of a divorce, most women change their name at least once and sometimes twice in their adult life.  I cannot believe that the law makes such a common action as to change the way your name appears on your properties something that requires the intervention of a lawyer.  

I would appreciate greatly getting the feedback of someone who is familiar with this.

I am working to create a trust and put in it both my home and my investment properties.  In trying to carry out this project, I have encountered a problem I was not expecting. I bought my home in 1998 under my (then) married name, Sylvia Asturias. About twelve years ago I changed everything back to my maiden name, Sylvia Castellanos with the exception of the deed to my house. I assumed this would be an easy fix that would just involve a trip to the office of the Recorder of Deeds with my documents making the change in the name. Well, I just called the office of the Recorder of Deeds and they said not at all. They said I had to hire a lawyer to create a new deed and convey it to them. Are they for real? It is such a trivial change. Is there a way I can change it myself without paying a lawyer?

 My basic question is: Can I transfer a property in the name of Sylvia Asturias (perhaps Sylvia Castellanos Asturias, I need to see how the deed is worded) to the Sylvia Castellanos Living Trust? Or does my home need to be changed to Sylvia Castellanos before I can transfer it?

I am an investor focusing on vacant lots.  I live outside Philadelphia and I have a lot of activity in the Poconos.   There will be an auction in a couple of weeks of properties located throughout Monroe County and I want to take part. This is my first incursion into this county. I want to pay a Monroe County realtor to go through the various areas covered in the list of properties and give me their thoughts about what areas to focus on. This would involve some online research on their part and talking to me on the phone.  If that realtor wants to subsequently be my agent for the sale of the lots I buy, I would be fine with that,  but the two activities need not be linked together. You can answer on this thread or private message me.

I recently bought two contiguous lots in Dyberry township with the intention of flipping them.  Together they are 0.92 acre, which is a nice size.  Last Friday I contacted a realtor who has sold vacant lots in the area about her selling them. I have not heard back from her. This could mean that she's busy, or that she doesn't want to deal with them, and she is choosing to let me know through ghosting me.  I may be coming back here asking for other recommendations.

This post is mainly to see if there is someone who is familiar with the real estate conditions in Wayne County who will share their thoughts with me.  I did  Zillow searches on properties  in Dyberry Township  under two acres a) sold and b) for sale.  I found one had been sold, and I was extremely surprised to find that there were none for sale at all.  Can someone explain this to me? Does this reflect a lack of interest or a lack of lots being available?

Alan, I am struck by your saying: " Seller really shouldnt be paying any fees to title company unless they did their conveyancing (ordering)."  

I have heard different explanations of who pays the closing costs. I have read that it's negotiated between the buyer and seller, and also that the costs are divided down the middle.  Can you further explain what you said?   And by the way, in transactions I would always be the seller, so to me what you said is very favorable.

Thank you to both Susan and Jay for the valuable information you have given me. It is very helpful to me.