Elderly Woman Being Foreclosed On

[Kai Soremekun]

I found a property that is scheduled to go up for auction on Tuesday 11/22/22.  Looks like it has been postponed once.

The house is paid off. It was last sold in the 80s for 172k.

BUT an equity loan was taken out on the property in the 2000;s for 100k.  That loan is being foreclosed on.

Property Taxes are current.  Do not see any other liens on the property although since I only found the property yesterday haven't ordered a title search on it.

I drove by the property today.  It is not kept up well.  Was able to talk to the next door neighbor who told me a woman lives there who's been there for over 40 years.

Her husband passed away last year.

I would like to approach this woman, first to see if I can be of service to make sure there isn't a way she can save her house. But if that's not possible I have cash that I can offer her so she's isn't left with nothing.

It seems like it may be too late to reach out before Tuesday but would love thoughts on. I am new to foreclosures.  Real estate lawyer recommends would also be appreciated as I should probably make sure I don't mess up.

1. Possible solutions for this woman

2. How/if I should approach her

3. If I do offer to pay cash to help her what that might look like.

[Jay Hinrichs]

Quote from @Kai Soremekun:

Quote from @Jay Hinrichs:

If the house is paid off is this a tax sale ?  not a mortgage / sheriffs sale ?  Keep in mind if it has a lot of equity most likely there will be bidders and she will get everything above what is owed  ( its called an overage).. many times that is far better for these folks than taking a low ball from an investor.

It's an equity loan that got taken out on the home after it was paid off.

Yes, after writing my post I realized she may get a decent penny from the auction.  Highly likely it could be more than I can offer her. I will just watch it and see how it goes.

I found out she's 79 so I'm almost certain she's attached to the house.  Too bad she doesn't have someone to help her sell it.
It's crazy to lose a house with so much equity in it. :(

I have done this twice in my career..  I have sat down with the owner in this scenario.. paid off their underlying and gave them a life estate.  depending on the deal and the equity and of course your personal financial position ( IE many investors dont have the means to invest money with no return for an extended period of time.)  But if the numbers work it could be a win win.

One I did in portland we paid off 80k  she lived in the house for about 8 or 9 years.  I was able to build 3 homes on that lot and sold for over1.6 mil and well never really ran the numbers but we did pretty good.  And she got to live the rest of her life with no stress.