Specialist · USA · Member since 2016 · 45 posts · 17 votes
So there is a property close to me in the east end of Pittsburgh that I have had my eye on for a while. It is abandoned but It is in an AMAZING location and I think it could potentially be a great deal for me. BUT when looking at the Allegheny tax website it shows the owner as the guy who died in the house. Then when looking at the owner mailing address it shows a different address than the home I'm interested in.
I talked to the neighbor today who said she has been in her house for 4 years and it has been vacant the entire time she has lived there. She seems to think there is an insurance company or hospital with a lien against the house. The tax site also shows that the taxes have not been paid for the past 3 years. I cannot see beyond that.
I can take that owner mailing address and search for it on the same site and get the owners first and last name.
Other than mailing that address and walking up to the front door what other ways could I contact the owner of the property?
Does anyone know of a way to gather more info on this property?
That's an excellent question, a tough one to figure out for sure. It sounds to me that either the county has not updated the owner's name properly...OR more than likely the property was passed down to his son with the same name as an inheritance. The mailing address usually is different from the owner's address if 1) it's currently vacant and the owner lives elsewhere or 2) the owner is an investor and has the property as a rental.
I'm actually a wholesaler in the Pittsburgh area and could hook you up to some great off market deals if you'd like to check them out. Of course they are mostly vacant properties that need work done to them but several are for sale under $20K. If you'd like to reach out to me, send me a private message through Bigger Pockets and we talk further over there.
Also, as a wholesaler, we use a number of online tools to find owners phone numbers, and email addresses. They come at a price but can be worth it, look into Spokeo & Intelius. They might help.
That's an excellent question, a tough one to figure out for sure. It sounds to me that either the county has not updated the owner's name properly...OR more than likely the property was passed down to his son with the same name as an inheritance. The mailing address usually is different from the owner's address if 1) it's currently vacant and the owner lives elsewhere or 2) the owner is an investor and has the property as a rental.
I'm actually a wholesaler in the Pittsburgh area and could hook you up to some great off market deals if you'd like to check them out. Of course they are mostly vacant properties that need work done to them but several are for sale under $20K. If you'd like to reach out to me, send me a private message through Bigger Pockets and we talk further over there.
Also, as a wholesaler, we use a number of online tools to find owners phone numbers, and email addresses. They come at a price but can be worth it, look into Spokeo & Intelius. They might help.
That's an excellent question, a tough one to figure out for sure. It sounds to me that either the county has not updated the owner's name properly...OR more than likely the property was passed down to his son with the same name as an inheritance. The mailing address usually is different from the owner's address if 1) it's currently vacant and the owner lives elsewhere or 2) the owner is an investor and has the property as a rental.
I'm actually a wholesaler in the Pittsburgh area and could hook you up to some great off market deals if you'd like to check them out. Of course they are mostly vacant properties that need work done to them but several are for sale under $20K. If you'd like to reach out to me, send me a private message through Bigger Pockets and we talk further over there.
Also, as a wholesaler, we use a number of online tools to find owners phone numbers, and email addresses. They come at a price but can be worth it, look into Spokeo & Intelius. They might help.
Best,
Sawyer
Sawyer, what kind of success have you had using Spokeo or Intelius? They are some of the first results that show up when I try to look for the owner's contact info
@Paul Wakim Because I play a numbers game and make many calls a week to off-market property owners the success is fairly good. However, if you are just looking at getting the correct contact info for an owner of a single property it's could very well be 50/50 toss up if the numbers are correct. Regardless, if you are really serious about this property then I'd give it a try.
If you browse some of the virtual assistant sites, many freelancers note that they specialize in skip-trace research. You might try there. VA rates are pretty cheap.
It is likely that this house was abandoned many years ago—perhaps when the mills closed. If so, there are likely many years of tax liens linked to the property that would have to be paid at closing.
One thing you may consider is the Allegheny County Vacant Lot Recovery Program whe the county will wipe out all the liens and sell the property to you at an appraised value. Not all municipalities participate in this program.
Also, it may be worth looking into where the county and your community is with respect to land banks. Over the last few years, many municipalities have been gathering data on all their abandoned properties and making them available to developers.
@Paul, any luck so far? I live in Allegheny county and their county records aren’t the best but I plan to place a few phone calls there this week. I’m interested to know if you’ve had any luck.
@Sawyer, how can you be reached?
I've been trying to track down some properties as well that appear to be vacant / abandoned and are essentially falling into disrepair pretty quickly. The Allegheny Tax site is definitely hit or miss and a few that I have been tracking are owned by capital investment companies in Illinois and Texas. These guys aren't paying taxes and are nearly impossible to contact by phone. The one time I did get through to someone, they seemed to have no idea that they even owned the property. I filed to have them put up for tax sale - I figured if they refuse to speak to me so that I can offer them cash for their properties, at a minimum, I'll force them to at least pay their taxes and best case, I'll have a chance to buy the places at the tax sale. We'll see what happens, just mailed the forms this week...
@Cliff F. the best way to contact me is via BiggerPockets through private messenger. Then I'm able to provide you with my contact info. It's not allowed through the forums. Feel free to send me a colleague request and message. Talk soon!