Negotiating Foreclosure Payoff

[Alex Lee]

Hi all!  I’ve got a duplex that we grew up in located in New York.  We lived in one unit and rented the other.  It was owned by my dad, but he passed away a few years ago, we rented the whole thing out.

We have since moved out of state and hired a property manager.  However, the property has been going down hill.  When the property did rent out, it was able to bring in $2300 (gross).  But over the last year, management has not been able to rent it out, and the condition is poor.  It’s sitting vacant and we’ve not been able to pay the taxes or mortgage.

We now owe $13k in taxes and there is $90k owed to the banks. 

My question: what options do we have at this point?  

We are leaning towards just letting it go in the tax sale.  We’ve talked to realtors who think it will sell for about $90k, so we’d still owe more than what it’s worth.  

Is there any possibility to negotiate the payoff with the bank?

Thanks in advance for suggestions!