Owner deceased, 30k in missing mortgage payments...

[Manrup Sandhu]

Hey all,

I found my first opportunity. It's a vacant single family home in a great area. Problem is, the owner is deceased and there is a 140k mortgage balance with 30k in missing mortgage payments. When the owner passed away (in the home), his wife (who the family hasn't kept in contact with) had made a big fuss and said that if the family tried paying off the house, it would belong to her. Further, once he passed away, his son moved in but never made the mortgage payments...

So long story short, my goal is to purchase this, clean off the 30k debt (on top of other liens it may have and taxes), fix it up, and either refinance or sell. It can easily sell for 265k-275k after some cosmetic work.

The home is going to be in a sheriff sale within the next 40 days.

What would you suggest as the next steps? With this being my first opportunity, I'm unsure about how much the family should receive since they owe 30k on top of other potential liens and property taxes. Additionally, I don't have 30k liquid on top of the other items that need to paid.

I am considering to use a private/hard money lender. I've been told this would be a good wholesale but I want to take advantage of the housing market.

All advice/insight is appreciated. Thanks.