All Forum Posts by: Andy B.

You need to get the 1/2 owner's estate probated (it should have been done many years ago) - it is strange that this would have gone non-probated for more than 4 years. But, you have to know who legally controls the other half.

Question: How is the ownership held? If they were joint tenants, the death of one party sends that interest to the survivor -- so if this is the case, the woman should own 100%

If it is not a joint tenant, then it may be Tenant's In Common -- which means you can buy the 1/2 interest if you want. Then you can force a partition of the property where the court will split the property as necessary (in half in this case) and if it is not able to be split (if it is a house), the court will force a sale -- at which point you could offer to buy the other half.

I have heard things similar to what Jim said -- a friend will call and request the "new subscriber" package even though he is existing and they usually give it to him.

As for the DVD question, you used to be able to buy Tivo boxes to use as a DVR -- I think there was a service fee associated with it though -- though I heard there was a "lifetime" fee you could pay if you wanted (instead of the monthly fee).

I am not proficient in family law (actually I try very hard to not learn anything about it so no one will ask), but the way I understand it, the divorce decree is basically a court order, so if the ex-husband is not signing the deed to transfer ownership - the ex-husband is violating a court order and can be held in contempt.

It is not the best solution, but the wife could press this in court and force the issue.

I'd check with a local lawyer before relying on this though - I really don't know anything about divorce law.

I agree with Jon - get a lawyer to look it all over. I would want to be certain that the divorce decree did not remove the POA or that the POA does not somehow reference the marriage or something along those lines.

But even then, I think it would be better to wait for the deed to be signed by husband.

The wife signing the deed will create a problem and the husband is going to have a decent argument (POA was granted to wife - she is no longer "wife" so POA should not exist) -- whether he can win or not is not really the question -- he will make the argument and the buyer of this "questionable" property will need to defend. Better to take a little time and get it all taken care of on the front end rather than entering into a fight and relying on the idea that you will win.

I fall firmly on the fence on this one -- while I can understand the concept of borrowing to invest and get a bigger retrun than the cost of borrowing, I personally have an aversion to debt. I paid off my primary residence and it felt good and I really enjoy not having to make payments to the bank.

Of course, I am now looking to see what sort of loan I can get on the place so I can go out and invest -- but I'm not sold on the idea yet.

It does all depend on the state -- some states allow banks to pursue definciency amounts and there is also the possibility of a personal guaranty (I did several foreclosures of investor property that had these).

However, the idea behind the foreclosure auction is that the price the property sells for is the "market value" -- the advertising and other procedures set out for a foreclosure auction are deemed to specify that the property is sold for the best price. So, as long as the proper foreclosure proceedings are followed, the auction price is the value the of the property and a borrower would be hard pressed to argue that the property sold for less than "market" -- and courts have upheld that idea. The borrower would have to show that the bank did not follow proper foreclosure procedures or challenge the foreclosure procedures themselves - to get a court to determine that the price is wrong.

Also, if the price goes over the amount owed to the bank (including the costs of foreclosure and other fees) that money belongs to the borrower. The bank cannot keep it and if they do, they should be punished.

I have not bid on any properties on the courthouse steps, but I have auctioned several for my bank clients.

For bid amounts, Jon is correct -- the bank will usually be the first to bid and their price is either the amount owed on the loan or some sort of determination of market value. My clients would get a realtor to tell them what the house would realistically sell for and the bank would decide the ability to get re-paid for any difference and then come up with their highest number. Usually they will just bid that number and not join in any bidding war (most never got another bid anyway). There are probably exceptions, but that was my experience.

As far as getting ahead of teh competition, I'm not sure you can. All the info out there is available to everyone. In my area there is a company that collects all foreclosure filings and sells the list - you can get the list and then research the properties (doubt you can inspect them though). All filings have to be posted 21 days before the auction, so you'll have sufficient time - but many of the posted auctions do not happen. I would say about 75% of my postings did not go to auction for one reason or another (though most went to another auction later).

In my personal experience, the bank purchased every property except 2. One was a convienience store that was purchased by an owner-operator and the other was a house that was bought it for $1 more than the bank's bid.

I've got it on my calendar and hope to make it out again.

I didn't read the article, but this sound really dumb -- taxes accrue regardless of recording a deed and they apply to the property, not the person who owns it. So even if the bank gives him the property, the taxes will still be owed (and most likely, the taxing authority will take the property)

On thing to consider is that high-rise buildings are almost never 100% leased. Our office has been in the same place for 10+ years and the space next door has never been leased. It is about 5,000 square feet so would need a pretty specific tenant to lease it -- I imagine it will remain vacant until we get to the point of adding employees and need to get more space. However, our building hovers around 85% occupied with various spaces being turned over as leases come due (and aren't renewed), so I believe it mades good money.