Abandoned Property

[Mark Beekman]

I'm thinking of flipping and/or rehabbing an abandoned property. The home was being lived in by a doctor and his wife up untill 1999, which is when it was sold to it's current owner. The current owner is a church that was planning on getting the property re-zoned so they could put a church there. It's been 8 years and they haven't gotten approval for the re-zoning and the house has been vacant during this time period.

I'm new to real estate investing, so I'd appreciate any critiquing of the following steps I'm planning on taking.

1. I'll send the owner a letter of intent which will also be asking permission to check out the house and have it insepected.

2. If I get a favorable response from the letter of intent, I will then have the house inspected as well as bring a contractor through to help estimate rehab costs.

3. If everything seems worthwhile, I'll draw up an assignable purchase option contract (assignable on the chance I don't want to rehab and I find a buyer for it before hand.). The purchase option will be for 2 or 3 months which will give me time to get the finances together and/or to find a buyer for a quick-sale.

If there's anything I'm missing please let me know!