Two weeks after house burned is it ethical to make an offer?

[Eric Teran]

My wife and I were walking in the neighborhood and we noticed a home boarded up. Perfect opportunity to make an offer. However, we soon discovered this was the home that was burned down about two weeks ago. The interior is completely ruined by the fire and water. The exterior looks fine but who knows. 

My question is how ethical is it to contact the homeowner if they are willing to sell the home?

Is two weeks enough time? Is one day enough?

Do I contact them and say, "I'm sorry for your situation. I'm glad you are doing okay. If you are looking for options for your home I would be happy to make an offer." They get the money and don't have to deal with the stress of building a new home or fighting for insurance money. Maybe this offer is an acceptable solution for them. I understand that it also depends on how the situation is approached. We don't want to be an a**hole developer.

With so many natural disasters as the hurricanes and California fires, offers can be made on those properties as well. Is that a different situation than an isolated home that is damaged? 

Do these situations fall within the same lines of when a relative becomes the owner of the property due to a death in the family? Is there a too soon?

I ask the BP community, when is it ethically acceptable to contact/make an offer to a homeowner when they have lost their property due to devastating circumstances? 

[Mike H.]

I'm always of the opinion that in business you want to get there first. The reality is that you are going to get a response either way. And I would suggest that its 50/50 what you get. They will either be tickled pink you want to buy the property OR they will think you're an ambulance chaser and won't want anything to do with you.

But they're going to think that no matter when you put in your interest. So contact them early and tell them you buy those types of properties and if its something that makes sense for them because they're taking their money and building somewhere else, you'd be very interested in speaking with them.

To me, its no different than anything else. You're either going to be a solution for them and they'll be grateful you reached out. Or they may have ever intention of building there again and you'll be a nuisance. No way we can ever know which is which so you just do the numbers game and contact them and hope its the positive one. :-)