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Abandoned Properties
Anyone have any luck with Abandoned properties?
Typically it is a very easy process finding the onwers of the properties but will they sell and will they sell for what you have in mind? I would like to hear some feed back on this subject as I am considering jusmping into this untapped market.
All you hear about is REO, Short Sales, & pre-foreclosures but what about these properties that are left to rot, can you make a profit for both you and the neighborhood?
Thanks Ladies & Gentlemen!
I am curious about this as well. I look forward to seeing a post from someone who has experience in this area. I am curious...how does one go about finding these types of properties.
not to say deals can not be had on abandon properties, but i personally would be afraid of these... after all there is probably a real good reason they are abandon?
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I tried my luck at a few. I found the owners by using a little elbow grease, but none wanted to sell. Beyond that, I can't say that I've had any success.
Anyone else?
I try to work with abandoned houses. There are a ton of them in Houston. I have closed 1 wholesale deal that was an abandoned house. I have a few birddogs that scour neighborhoods looking for these houses for me. I get tons of leads, but like I have said, have only closed on one.
The problem is finding the owners. If you cant do it yourself you can hire a skip trace, but there are no guarantees on that obviously. Even if you find the owner will they sell?
I feel it is a good niche once you can get it more streamlined, which I am trying to do.
What about issues with plumbing from the property sitting for so long? I would think that would be really rough on the water works.
A lot of "abandoned" property is not abandoned. If it is abandoned, the taxes and bills aren't being paid and you can buy the property from the tax assessor.
Depending upon the area and the value of the land, some investors would rather have the property sit empty than to deal with tenants. They may have plans for the land that don't involve keeping the house.
In a lower rent area, it might be cheaper to keep the house empty, because low rent income won't even cover the damage that low rent tenants can do to a place. Or perhaps the owners don't want to deal with the rent control board.
I'm not saying it isn't worth a try. Contact them and see what they say. Just don't count on every vacant house being for sale for 10 cents on the dollar. Just because it is vacant doesn't necessarily mean it is for sale.
Originally posted by "dafly":
If you know what to do HUD has government sponsored porgams to help you rehabilitate these types of properties. Also there are many grants that will (and don't have to be paid back) help you accomplish this too. You pay taxes on hard earned money why not let the goverment help you put your money to work for you?
Thanks for the response fellas and I have one in the works right now lets just hope everythings goes all good!
I find this thread insteresting. Many of the 'how to flip houses' resources claim that finding vacant properties is the #1 way of finding leads.
This thread seems to contradict that.
So if y'all aren't finding vacant properties, where are you finding your leads?
Originally posted by "NogginBoink":
This thread seems to contradict that.
So if y'all aren't finding vacant properties, where are you finding your leads?
You see it is not all to hard to find vacant properties the hard part comes with finding the owner. Usually you have to pay a search company (skip trace, background search) to find them for you and the costs really add up if your not getting any luck with the owners of these properties.
But if you are persistant like me it is possible to obtain their contact information without having to pay a company to find them for you.
I ran a few ads, asking people to bring me abandoned properties. I offered cash, and required that they knew who the owner was, or be the owner themselves. Got zero calls.
Hello there Tony-
The reason you got no calls back was due to the fact that they had to know who the owner was. In most cases people just come across them and they have no clue has to who the owner is let alone find them. If you have them find the properties that should be enough for you to get started and find the owners yourself.
You should run a flyer trying to obtain locations and see where that gets you (but make sure to let them know that is for every property that you purchase, that they gave you), and be a bit more creative as to who you want to give the flyers to!
I love vacant and abandoned properties. Its one of the cheapest way to find deals. I do subscribe to a low level skip tracing service for $30 a month. I always try whitepages.com first, then the newspaper, obits, and anything else I can get my hands on.
As with all marketing strategies, being consistent and persistent with driving and researching is key. If you think you will get a deal the first time or the second time, you probably won't. If you are willing to spend 4 or 5 hours driving each week and a day or two researching, calling, and mailing, then you will probably get one every month or two. Is 80 hours a month worth $5,000 or $10,000?
As for plumbing problems and other issues, price overcomes all objections. If you get the property cheap enough does it matter if it needs a new sewer line or new water lines? Obviously you would need to factor those things into your numbers, but that's what this game is all about.
Originally posted by "Ryan_Webber":
Wonderful advice Ryan, what skip trace company do you use and how did you get a hold of them? Typically I use www.whitepages.com and if that doesn't work I go with 411 and try to see about residential listings (ofcourse this is after I have found out who the owner is).
The easiest way to do this is set yourself up with a title rep that can give you access to a title account to look up the info you need. Not sure how much money is out there for other states but I do know that being able to find out if the property has any tax liens and having a title account is a really good advantage.
Flyers are allways a good advantage but like Ryan said if you are not willing to spend the time to look yourself than it might not pay off. Oh and try sending flyers to mail handlers that have routes if they don't offer the information you want for free!
I primarily use People Finders. They normally pull a good amount of info on people and their extended family.
I wouldn't really worry about title or lien issues until you actually get a bite. Obviously once you get a contract running a title search would be essential.
Originally posted by "Ryan_Webber":
I wouldn't really worry about title or lien issues until you actually get a bite. Obviously once you get a contract running a title search would be essential.
I figured I would try it, and see. I actually ran an ad about 6 months ago, saying "CASH FOR ABANDONED HOUSES" and left my number. No calls. I figured I would get a couple. I drove by two today, that Im going to work on. I drive by both of them often, just never pursued them.
I stay pretty busy, but Im going to get into abandoned homes a little more.
Sounds good Tony but I would try and see if putting an amount that they would receive in order to try and get some leads. Like I am going to send out a flyer in my local area saying that I will pay $1,000 for any infromation on abandoned properties (if I purchase said properties).
well I haven't encounter that kind of situation, maybe there's a reason why those properties are abandoned.
It really doesn't matter WHY they are abandoned.
Price overcomes all objections.
So if its a $100,000 house fixed up and it needs $20,000 in work would you buy it for $50,000? $40,000? $30,000? What if it needs $30,000 in work? Would you pay $25,000 for it? Price overcomes all objections.
Unless the repairs bottom out the value underneath $0, there's always a number where it doesn't really matter what the property needs. This is a numbers game not a beauty contest.
One of the best things about abandoned properties is that many times they are free and clear. The owner obviously doesn't really care what happens to the property, and if they are willing to sell, they are normally open to a deeply discounted price.
Ryan,
Great advice. I would say that roughly 90% of the referrals for abandoned properties are ones that I have already scoped out. Problem being that I hardly ever research them. Maybe I'll start selling you lists.
Nice hearing from you
I actually just went out to look for abandoned properties today. I found about 15 possible abandons, turns out 3 of the owners have out of state mailing addresses (from tax asessors website). Now I gotta send some letters out since I havent got my postcards in.
I also spoke to a mailman in the area and he pointed me to a street that had about 3 abandoned properties almost in a row.
Ive never used a skip tracer before. How does that work exactly? Is it worth it if Im only going out to look for properties once a week?
Also, who do you contact for bank-owned properties (I found 2 today)?
I was working on buying a abandoned property a few years back, and it was vacant for about a year and a half. That was not a problem because I knew that I could repair anything that was wrong with the property. The problem was and it was a huge problem. Since the property was vacant for more than one year the city had a right to enforce all new building codes. So in effect it had to be brought up to todays codes. Unfortunately the code that was enforced was that you were not allowed to build on a lot that was to thin. So the solution was to demolish the property and turn it into a vacant lot that could no longer be built upon. This house sat on this lot for fifty plus years and now it is gone. At the time I had no idea that a city could do something like this and I am very careful when a property has been vacant for any amount of time.
Thanks for posting that bit of info craig. That is very good to know. I just wish you didn't have to find out the hard way.
Wow. I've never heard of something like that. My city isn't near as stringent about abandoned houses. It definitely sounds like it would be a good idea to check with your city's code enforcement before purchasing an abandoned house.
The funny thing about that property is that the code that they were going by was just put into place. In fact it was the first property that the city was able to enforce this rule upon. Another rule they enforce in my city is that there has to be a electrical inspection after a year of vacancy or you can not get the power turned on. It is usually not that big of deal but it is a pain.