abandoned houses research

[Aimar Campbell]

hi all. i was driving around my neighborhood and found two abandoned houses that are in fairly decent shape. i wanted to research them to find out if i can do something with them. the owner of one house died, but he was a loner and i don't think he left a will. the second house looks like it was just abandoned by the owners recently. guess they walked out on mortgage. how would i research who owns the house so that i can contact them? i have the addresses of both. i tried to research county clerk but they only let you search by block/lot. thanks for any input.

[Ibrahim Hughes]

I disagree with Joe and deal a lot with abandoned properties. Some have equity, some don't and thus require short sales. But you will often find cooperative sellers at the end of both.

Now I do agree with Joe that it is a waste of time if the property is owned by a bank. However you will have to first find out who owns the property and what the legal status might be. Don't assume it's bank owned or under water.

First go to the NJ Assoc. of County Tax Board's website (http://www.njactb.org) and find out what owner they have listed (they also have the block and lot #). Then Go back to the county recorder's office and make sure you're dealing with the office that deals with deeds and mortgages. Use the name you got from the county tax site (I often print the sheet out, take it down to the recorder's office and use it to jot down important notes about mortgages and other liens against the property) to see if the property was conveyed to a new owner (the county tax site doesn't always post the most recent ownership info - they can sometimes be months behind).

From there you should be able to find out what mortgages are against the property and whether or not it's in foreclosure. Once you have this info you can basically start tracking down the owner with a full understanding of why the house is vacant and how you may be able to help.

Just remember when dealing with abandoned properties, confirm EVERYTHING and assume NOTHING.