I just bought a commercial building for $100

[David Humphrey]

Hey everybody!  Just wanted to share a quick bit of success that I had.  Here's the backstory...

I've been living in my current area for about 2 years.  Like everybody here, I keep my eyes peeled when I'm out driving, and have been keeping an eye on a few things.  One building that I pass quite frequently hasn't had any visible activity for as long as I remember.  After checking the auditor's site around Christmas time, I get the owner's information, who lives locally, and wait until about two weeks ago to call him.  There was a fair amount of back taxes on the property, so I think I might be able to pick it up cheap.

I call the guy.  He tells me that it was the location of his business, which unfortunately closed in 2007, at which time he filed bankruptcy for his business.  He assumes that the bank that he had a mortgage through would take the building back, though the debt was discharged.  Come spring 2015, he finds that he's still the owner of the building, and has a pretty steep tax bill.  He thinks there might still be a bank lien on the building.  That's when he says the words I dreamed he might but never imagined he would... "If you want to pay the back taxes on the place, you can have it."

I meet him at the building, which is a 1600 sf block building with a roof from 2006 and new electrical.  I put it under contract and wait a few days.  I was going to wait to get my title search back before I have him sign the deed over, considering the potential for the mortgage being valid, but decide that if there is a lien, I could file a quiet title and have it removed.  I decide to go ahead and take deed to the property. He gives me back the notarized deed this past Sunday.  

I get my title search back yesterday.  There was a mortgage for $37,300 with no satisfaction.  Yikes.  So I call the bank, which is local, and discuss the situation.  The servicer I talk to says to fax over the information that I have and she will let me know, after mentioning she is probably going to have to drop the lien as it's probably not on their books anymore.  

Aaannnyways... I call this morning to confirm she got my fax.  She says that she has already sent over the satisfaction form to her loan officers to have it signed.  Within another hour, I had a pdf copy of the mortgage satisfaction in my email that she was filing with the county today!

There are some back taxes, equating to about 1/5 of the building value that I've set up a payment plan on already.  So far, this is the best deal that I've done.  Rolled the dice a bit, but everything came out great! Just wanted to share!