Vacant,Trashed,City Tagged. 2005 Lender doesn't exist. What next?

[Shane Woods]

There's this house in my town that caught my attention today. Vacant, electric meter pulled. City tagged dangerous, do not enter. Not secured. Inside floors have sunken over 12 inches in some areas. Gaping holes in the floor.

Was purchased in 2005, same owner shows on current tax records. Had an FHA mortgage in 2005 for $86k from a lender who is now out of business. City notices were put on April '15 and October '15.

No idea how long it's been vacant.

How do I track down the info besides trying to contact the owner? Would the title company be any help trying to find who holds the mortgage paper?

This would be a difficult but rewarding rehab. 1896 sf on busy street with converted garage & separate utility. 3 beds, 2 baths, plus 200sf bonus space in conversion.

ARV probably $180-190k, maybe more. Repairs somewhere around 90-100k. (That's using 50/sf roughly, considering it's a full gut to the studs, plus foundation rebuild & new floor joists.)

Figure 7% costs ($14k) (7% because I'm licensed and will only have to pay buyer agent commission.)

Desired Profit 20% of exit ($38k)

Max offer=38k

Using 70% rule: 190k*.7 - 100k  = 33k 

So what can I do besides try and contact the owner?

[David Goossens]

Sounds interesting. Do you have an attorney that you typically work with? If so, see if she/he can point you in the right direction.  I wonder how much back taxes are owed? Maybe it will end up as a tax foreclosure. Or try and contact the owner to see if they can give you any information on it.