All Forum Posts by: Steve Wrightstone

The one in my area that I really liked was the SFR the bank wanted 120K for that had burnt to the ground earlier this year. It took them over 6 months for someone to get a clue and realize they weren't going to sell the pile of rubble for 120K. Now they're listing it for 43.9K and advertising it as a good building lot (it isn't), but they're still listing it with the pre-fire pictures :roll:

I don't know about the paperwork at tax time (yet), but I know that the difference in cost between a fictitious name and an LLC in PA is all of $50 if you set it up yourself ($75 for the fictitious name, $125 for the LLC).

Steve.

In Pennsylvania, there is no redemption period. However, there is a 30 day period after the auction where the property owner has the ability to challenge the validity of the auction in court, usually for lack of proper notification by the county. So, barring an IRS lein, you still have to wait at least 30 days for the court to confirm ownership. Of course, that gives you time to work out some kind of deal with any other existing lein holders :wink: .

Thanks for the info on the IRS though.

Steve.

John,

Thanks for the info. Turns out to be a moot point though. Apparently the bank finally woke up and paid up the taxes sometime Friday. :badwords:

Oh well. There's other properties waiting.

Steve.

If a property is foreclosed on, goes to sherriff's sale and is bought by the foreclosing bank, does this wipe out the lien that the bank filed the foreclosure on?

Here's the reason that I'm asking - A property near me went to sherriff sale in June and was bought by the bank for $1. Sherriff's Deed was issued in July. Apparently the bank (which shall remain nameless at the moment) neglected to check on past due property taxes on the property and it is now listed for Upset Tax Sale this coming Monday. With an Upset Tax Sale (at least in PA), the sale is subject to existing liens, so mortgages don't get wiped out by the tax sale. So, if the bank doesn't correct the tax deficiency by Monday morning and the property is sold for the back taxes, does the first mortgage that got foreclosed on still exist?

If it doesn't exist, the property is a huge steal. If it does still exist, it probably isn't worth the lien amount.

Thanks.

Steve

You might check with some of the other neighbors to see if he's done this kind of thing before, and if he has, is it escalating. I can remember a neighbor from when I was a teenager, who began acting like that. He accused neighborhood kids of breaking into his garage and stealing his tire gauges (of all things :roll: ). As time went on, he accused other neighbors of tresspassing, theft, and various other "crimes". He eventually got arrested and committed by his wife when he started shooting arrows into his own house.

If the neighbor of your tenant sounds like he's getting increasingly paranoid, it might be worthwhile to drop a line to the local mental health officials (or have your tenants do so). Even if they can't do anything right now, putting them on notice of a potential problem might make it easier for them to do something if he does go more buggy.

Just a thought.

Steve.

Hi there Racquel. I'm also in the SE PA area (Chester County mostly) and a new investor as well. Glad to have you aboard.

Steve.

Pat,

Are you in Philly or out in the burbs? If you're actually in the city, your subject line really should have been "Yo! from Philly" :D

We're out in southern Chester County and just starting out as well. Maybe we can compare notes as we go.

Thanks.

Steve.

Which sites have you been checking?

Yes, exactly as in Longwood Gardens. We are a few miles from there in the opposite direction from Chadds Ford. A small town called West Grove. I used the Chester County location in my profile, because not too many people have ever heard of West Grove, PA (smack dab in the heart of mushroom country...with the smells to prove it!).

The only REIA group I can find is one called BiState Creative Investors and I can't find out much about them.

We are currently restricting ourselves to the Chester County market, mainly because we know that market and have at least some understanding of the real estate process in PA. I'm sure that we will eventually expand into Northern DE, if for no other reason than the border is only about 5 miles from our house. Until we get some experience and a few deals under our belts, we want to keep things as simple as possible.

Thanks.

Steve.