All Forum Posts by: David Humphrey

Hey everybody,

Found an off market deal where the owner died, the will was probated, but the real estate wasn't included in the probate.  The executrix/heir of the property lives local to me, so no big deal there.  It seems like they are just letting this place sit. 

My question:  Would the probate case need to be reopened (closed currently) to transfer the real estate to the heirs, or could the executor sell it (obviously not directly) without the case being reopened.  

What I find strange is that the real estate was in the will, but after reading the probate docket and looking at the auditor's site, the property is still in the name of the deceased (2013 death).  Thanks!

@Valerie Couch  Building is in good shape overall.  Just needs a few thousand in repairs like the ones I mentioned.

I do restoration work for myself and a few others.  I owned and operated a classic car restoration shop in Hartville, Ohio for about 4 years, but moved on to the oil and gas industry just a few years ago.  I'm on the real estate acquisition side of the oil industry.  If your husband needs some help with his Mustangs, I've restored enough of them that I could put one together in the dark.

@Rick H..  I do some classic car restoration, so for the time being, I'm going to use it as my restoration shop and storage facilities for my rehab tools and supplies.  I need to do some minor things to the building (glass block windows, replace garage door, paint, etc) but I'm going to wait to attack it until the spring.  Winter finally came to Ohio and it is cold. 

@Kerry Baird A friend of mine who is also an investor called me lucky.  I told him that luck has nothing to do with it.  I visited the owner's house 3 times the day I found his information but before I found his phone number.  This deal was seeing an opportunity, being persistent, and a fair bit of detective work.

OH, the $100 part was the total amount that I gave the seller to buy the building.  He was happy as a clam.

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!

Got a little more info from the recorder's site.  The building was purchased with the house next door, on a separate parcel, with cash.  He pulled out money, on what he though was both properties, but was just the house. The house was taken back in bankruptcy. He owns the commercial building outright.

@Account Closed  Not sure what chapter he filed under.  He filed for his business, not personal.  I think that I'm overthinking this situation.  I'm going to put it under contract, do a title search, and get title insurance.  There's really no point in speculating about anything.  

Hello Everyone!

I am seeking some advice from the collective knowledge of BiggerPockets!

Here's the situation.  I found a commercial property that I want.  Amazing deal.  I spoke to the owner directly today.  He used this property for his business, which he filed for Bankruptcy on in 2006.  Since that time, ownership has not changed from his name to the bank's or anyone else's.  He wasn't aware that the property still belonged to him until he received a tax bill this spring, which included all of the taxes since 2006.  

Here's my question.  He had a title search done.  No claims from the bank.  If I was to buy this property and had a title search done with insurance, and there was nothing relating to a bank claim on the exception sheet, would I own the property free and clear?  The situation to me seems to be that the bank discharged the debt in bankruptcy court, didn't foreclose on him, and allowed him to keep the property.  Obviously, if there was nothing filed to take the property, there may not be a release of the original mortgage either. 

Please let me know what you all  may think of this.  Thanks in advance.

Hey @Ravi Bodepudi. From my experience, the University of Akron rental market has all but dried up based on all of the new student housing that has been built by the University. As far as SFH in the South Akron area for student rentals goes, they are not demanding the rents that they were. Students have many other options now because of all the new housing available.

Don't get me wrong though.  Rents are still strong in the area, but are more to the market rather than out of necessity for students.