The house across the street and the house next door - thoughts? Rochester, NY

[Russell G.]

Hello BiggerPockets!

I am getting started with real estate investing here in Rochester, NY and wanted to share a couple opportunities that are right in front of me..literally!

I'm currently live in one of the up and coming neighborhoods I would like to invest in and there is a vacant house right across the street from me and also a vacant house next door. I'm interested in them, but I still am lacking a solid trail towards snapping these up (or getting the right info to make a smart decision) but here is what i've got so far...

House Across Street:

Been vacant for at least 3 years since i've been around. I believe it has been winterized, no furniture inside and appears to be good shape with no major issues. There is the vacancy paperwork attached to the front door/windows. Checking with the county clerk the most recent activity was "notice of pendency mortgage forclosure" less than 6 months ago so I called the bank REO department listed on that paperwork attached to the property today. But they responded that this address is not owned by the bank and i will need to contact the owner. I had mailed a handwritten letter to the property address a few weeks ago expressing my interest to purchase the property with no success. So i then found a new address for the potential owner (or taxpayer) and mailed another letter expressing my interest in the property. Maybe i'll get a call? I think this one would be great to tidy up and hang onto.

House Next Door:

This one has been vacant for just a little over a year now, prior to that the neighbor was living out of the front porch area (super nice and legit guy BTW). Appears to be in much rougher shape, but is larger and has a garage. I began by sending a letter same as described above to the property address and the neighbor called me right back and gave me some info. Part of the roof collapsed over the kitchen or laundry area I can't see where it came down (roof is shot regardless), fittings from the laundry hookups broke off or burst partially flooding the house, there is mold/mildew from that and the furnace has gone out - woah boy. The listed owner (mother of the caller) is deceased and the most recent activity from the county is a "welfare lien" from 3 years ago. I let a week pass by then decided to call the neighbor back up for more info and let him know i was still interested, but all he came back with was that the bank was sending collection letters etc. so they must own it now. I called the specific bank he provided, and same deal...they responded that this address is not owned by the bank and i will need to contact the owner, but suggested that there may be someone that controls the previous owner's estate. Kinda don't know where to go with this now. Also the conditions he described spook me a little bit but perhaps it's a deal under all that. I've heard super rough figures tossed around that ~$30/sq ft gets you in the ballpark of full gut fixer upper (honestly haven't been cruising the rehab forums so feel free to correct me on this). I think this one could be a wholesale, a flip i can work on since its next door or maybe even a buy and hold. The multiple options here which is why i'm still interested.

Apologize for the short novel - but if you made it this far thanks for hanging in there! Does anyone have any input, feedback or advice on where to go with either of these??

I'll report back any updates to this as i get them.

Thank you