All Forum Posts by: Lauren Goetz

FINAL UPDATE: 
Appreciate the responses and input! Figured I’d check back in and let you know how the story ends! 

By a stroke of luck, the squatters decided to leave the property in august and we were able to get into it right away! We initially bought this property as a rental but our market got really hot and so we set out to flip it. We bought it for cash, put up our own cash for the rehab. We did most of the work ourselves and it ended up looking awesome! We are officially under contract with a buyer at full asking, and have netted over $120k in profit (after all Reno costs, holding costs, taxes, closing costs, etc.).

Well worth the wait (and the headaches)! Would do it again. 

UPDATE: Upon conferencing with my attorney, we decided to wait them out at least until the end of the redemption period. His advice was based on the fact that because the property is still in the redemption period, if we attempted to evict, and it went to court, the "squatters" would only have to say "my brother said we could stay here" and they would win, and we would be out court costs, time, and headaches, since technically the brother (prior owner) has rights to the property still. So eviction seems to be the only option, but only after the redemption period ends. 

Hey BP!

I recently purchased a GREAT deal in a foreclosure auction with a ton of equity up front. Closed right before COVID hit. Bought it knowing that in the state of MI, the foreclosed upon party has until Sept of 2020 to redeem the property (highly unlikely due to being medically incapacitated). Bought it sight unseen, and after closing we found out that the prior owner's sister & brother in law are currently squatting in the property with no immediate intention to move (free place to live right!)

Legally, we don't have many options in the way of evictions at this point, as the property is still in the redemption period AND the MI governor has banned evictions in the state until further notice (likely not until august and even then maybe not, at which time the courts are likely to be backed up with pending evictions). HOWEVER, if the squatters choose to vacate, then the property can be legally defined as "abandoned" and we would have some legal flexibility to waive the remaining redemption period and take full possession without waiting until September.

My question is this: has anyone found successful strategies for motivating squatters to leave their properties? I've already offered them cash/offered to pay moving expenses/searched for alternate housing for them (nothing is "good enough")/offered to pay for a storage unit for them. No luck. 

My secondary question is... With the current COVID situation, does anyone have insight into managing the eviction process once the courts are allowed to process them again, for those of us in states where eviction are currently on hold?

Any advice, input, or creative strategies for motivating them to vacate is appreciated!

Thanks!

-Lauren

Hey BP!

I recently secured the contract on my first auction/foreclosure property as the highest bidder! Super excited, and I'm now in the process of getting all my ducks in a row for closing. The property is located in MI, and as a state law, the owner who was foreclosed upon has 1 year from date of sheriffs sale to redeem property (ending sept 2020). Without going into too many details of redemption period, basically what I'm looking at is not being able to take over "occupying," or in this case renting, the property until September. Therefore, my insurance agency is considering the property to be "vacant" until that time (even tho we have some inclination that it is currently still occupied by owners family). That means they quoted us more than double what we originally planned on for insurance, and really made our holding costs skyrocket. 

My question is: How should I go about insuring this property from now until September (8 months), that won't be overly expensive? Does anyone have any experience with this? Any tips on how best to insure this asset during redemption (policy type, agency recommendations, etc.)?

Thanks BP, you guys rock!

Hi all!

Looking to bid on/win a property at auction on a third party auction site. Property is described as "bank-owned" but further in the description...

"Quitclaim Deed and Assignment of Sheriff's Certificate of Title" pops up as type of title being sold. My previous understanding was that, once a property is bank owned, the bank has to furnish a free and clear title. Can anyone provide clarification on whether the "sheriffs title" really is a bank owned title, or is the property not yet bank owned and can therefore come with other liens??

Thanks!

Hi guys! My partner and I are about to close on our very first investment real estate deal. We had a quick question regarding closing costs. We initially estimated closing costs to be about $3000, but our lender came back with their initial estimate at double that, $6000. There are so many fees listed in the loan details... $200 here, $300 there. You know the drill. Anyways, wondering if anyone has had success with having lenders waive certain fees or reduce them, and how they went about doing that. ANY input is appreciated :) thanks BP community! Lauren G

Hi guys! My partner and I are about to close on our very first investment real estate deal. We had a quick question regarding closing costs. We initially estimated closing costs to be about $3000, but our lender came back with their initial estimate at double that, $6000. There are so many fees listed in the loan details... $200 here, $300 there. You know the drill. Anyways, wondering if anyone has had success with having lenders waive certain fees or reduce them, and how they went about doing that. ANY input is appreciated :) thanks BP community! Lauren