All Forum Posts by: Jacob Howell

Yesterday morning (Dec 16th 2015) I received a voicemail message from a guy who received one of my postcards that asked to buy his vacant property in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. After work, I was able to catch up with the owner over the phone. I asked him the typical questions and he answers saying that its vacant, 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, he used to live there and also told me about how much the next door neighbor was such a B-word. In general he explained how much of a headache the property is for him. Since he lives hours away and is 80+ years old he tells me that he can no longer afford to waste time and money maintaining or responding to complaints. He informs me that he did not think he owned the property since he filed for bankruptcy 6 years ago. However, property records and citation letters clear identify him as the owner. 

After he tells me more about his past life in the property and how the neighbors kid broke in to steal all of his guns, equipment and a safe; i asked him the million dollar question. HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT FOR THE PROPERTY?. He said "I dont want anything, I just want to be done with it". I thought I was hearing him wrong... I asked again SORRY I DONT THINK I HEARD YOU RIGHT, HOW MUCH? He confirmed saying " I don't want a nickle for it, you can have it" I was blown away. We talked for about an hour while I would ask him again about the price and he confirmed the same thing "Nothing". 

As you can imagine i was excited and surely knew this may be to good to be true. So I assured him I would find out the next day about any liens or foreclosures on the property. Today, I had a friend on mine do a title search for the property. There were no foreclosures but there are multiple liens summing up to around 20K.   

Property Info: 4 beds, 2 baths, 1600 sqft, 

The property ARV: ~114,000

Delinquent Taxes: ~20,000

Question 1 - Is there any way to get property transferred to my name without paying the taxes upfront? You know, gaining title, then having a payment plan to pay off taxes per month and maybe balloon payment after rehab and pulling equity?

Question 2 - I found this property because I am looking to wholesale, but I am keeping my eye out for home runs like this. If I get this property for free without paying taxes up front I will do rehab and flip myself. If not then i will attempt to wholesale for 25k to an investor. Does anyone have any experience wholesaling a property with tax liens? 

I have not inspected the property to determine the repair cost. Will do that tomorrow. 

Any advice on this would be helpful and much appreciated. 

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, PA, Tax Liens, Wholesale, 

After driving for dollars. You want to make sure you have the property address. Look up the information about the property google and county assesment. Get the owners name and mailing address. You can send direct mail using a site like www.click2mail.com or skip trace the owner names to find a phone number, email or someone who can get in contact with the owner. 

Once you talk to them just get general info mating about the property,repairs, any deliquent taxes, any loans or other possible leins. Make sure to get their asking price. 

Evaluate the deal to ensure it is worthwhile. Make sure to use a formula that would get you to the Maximum allowable offer. ARV × 70% - repairs - transaction cost. Once you have that write up or send the Offer Letter to the the property owner.

Once accepted make sure to do a walk through the property to get actual repair cost from a contractor or your own best estimate. Adjust the numbers if needed and get the Purchase Agreemen Form signed by the owner. 

With purchase agreement signed that has the contigencies and proper information contained you can now refer the property to the buyers list you have so they can buy cash with Assignment Agreement Form. 

Both are taken to a Title Company or Real Estate Attorney which will close on the property at the specified date. There are a few ways to close so you need to make sure you have a closing company or attorney that allows the type of way you'd like to close. 

There are details to the process that definitely need to surely be checked off and taken care in order to have the best chance of a successful flip. 

I suggest you work with another wholesaler and study up as much as possible. 

What do you think about this deal? 

@logndrew I'd like to talk with about this deal. 

@Mary B.

Thank you for responding. I have used the Wholesaling calculator, which is great. I think that doing the wholesale deal is the right way to go at this point just want to make sure its at a great price for me and the investor. 

@Greg Parker Thank you for the advice. 

The more I think about it I would like to get a quick flip. 15k to 20k sounds like a good deal right now. 

After driving for dollars in Pittsburgh (finding vacant houses) and sending direct mail to the owner addresses, one of the sellers called me and said he wants $20k for his house. The ARV for the home is around $140k, Zillow estimate $143k and very strong comps in the area to support it. I have not looked at the exact cost to repair but the house is in good shape. With an estimate cost of repair at around 40k, how much would you wholesale this deal for?

My mentor told me that I should flip it myself since he thought it sounds like a home run. but I'd like to get opinions. 

Thanks  

Hi Gabriel, 

My name is Jacob and like you I am looking at wholesaling I am at the process of marketing for deals and getting contracts signed. Let me know if you would like more information at least from what I know. Wholesaling is a very involved process and I don't think your question can be answered fully in one response. 

Jake