Owner is incarcerated and we want to buy..

[Noel Walton]

Hi all, my wife and I have located a vacant property that would be a great fix and flip, however after a public records search it appears the owner is incarcerated and will be for 8 more years. Is this worth pursuing?   Has anyone here ever had to deal with anything like this?

[Darwin Crawford]

I did this once.  Wholesale deal, seller went dark on us.  In a former life I did some skip tracing, was able to locate mugshot and arrest record.  Little bit of "social reverse engineering" got me to her bail bondsman, who wanted to get paid, and we got it done.  Takes some hustle, don't be afraid to pick up the phone and call relatives, and float the money thing past them hard.  People in jail need money too!  

If the numbers work, the incarceration isn't a deal breaker.  Paper and notaries go in and out of prisons on the daily.