Advice on acquiring property with deceased owner, no will, no heirs

[Steven M.]

Hi,
I am interested in purchasing a house located in the Philadelphia, Pa suburbs. The owner is deceased, and the house has been sitting vacant for about 3 years. I contacted his girlfriend who sold him the property and she informed me there was no will. She also said he has no immediate family (parents, siblings, children, spouse). She believes he has a few distant cousins located many states away, but she is not completely sure. Recently the house had a preforeclosure notice tapped to the door by the sheriff's office. I can see mail delivered on the porch that is addressed "to unknown heirs of (the deceased individual)."

What I have done so far:

- Researched public records on the property I can see the taxes are being paid (I assume by the mortgage company so it does not go to tax sale), but the mortgage is not being collected.

- Contacted the mortgage company to see if a preforeclosure purchase, or any purchase options are possible, and explained the situation. They told me it is not and I will have to wait for the property to hit the market as a foreclosure sale. They will not give me a specific date as im not the owner and its private information.

- Contacted the county treasurer's office. They informed me there is no listing of an upcoming foreclosure sale and that is all the information they have.

- I can not pull the death record to locate heirs, as it appears to access this you have to be related or appointed as a power to the deceased individual in some way.

- Left a letter in the door explaining who I am and stating I am interested in purchasing the property with hope an heir would recieve it. The letter is still there 1 year later with other mail piling up

How do I go about locating the heirs or what are my next steps to try to acquire this property?

[Jarred Ross]

@Steven M. Did you give up on this one? The foreclosure timeline is definitely a consideration, but all that's needed to start is to verify the owner's identity and see if he has any surviving relatives, there's almost always someone. Then work expediently to probate his estate with a competent attorney and buy it from his estate once an administrator is established. I do deals just like this in Philly regularly