All Forum Posts by: M Marie M.

Oh I forgot to add. Worse, sometimes the owner is the city government. They are like a mix of the owner sitting on the property and the crazy person. Some properties they will only release after an RFP (request for proposals) and a zillion boring community meetings where underlings of city politicians and bureaucrats pretend to listen to the concerns of those who bother with coming to community meetings. Or they want to sell the property to a politically acceptable non-profit. Crazy.

It isn't always cut an dry. There is a house a block from me that was a hoarder house that got caught on fire about 5-7 years ago. The owner was the brother of the then resident. The owner died recently after the fire and is still listed as the owner. The bank really owns it and has been paying the taxes and someone to clean up the yard on occasion. But the bank is not listed as an owner and hasn't done squat to move the property back to the land of the living.

Similar thing with a house that was even closer to me. Guy owned house, guy got foreclosed on but the bank never completed the deal with the city. So the house was still in guy's name. Then when the bank was good and ready, it legally (it had already physically taken over) took over then sold it. But it took years before it went from guy to sold.

I run a blog regarding vacant nuisance properties in my city. Sometimes the owner is dead. Sometimes the owner is crazy (that's another story). Sometimes the owner is unknown because no one is sure if the bank owns it or not and the bank seems not to be in a rush. Sometimes the owner/s are planning on finishing their flip, sometime this century. And sometimes the owner is just sitting on it waiting for the value to increase and will sell it to you for a price that has no relationship to reality.

I have a place in Florida, so:

Insurance- I can't bring it down for nothin', not even when I offered a higher deductible. 

Taxes- Not that bad

Repairs- I must have ticked off the hot water heater gods because I'm on hot water heater #2 in 5 years. But I suspect misuse by the tenants since they store crap in the same space as the heater.

 I'm gonna be honest and say "um. I dunno." It looks like you may need to sell it before the bank takes it, losing your equity and tanking your credit. I haven't experienced that problem myself, so you can take that advice with as much salt as you'd like.

Welcome to BP.

My one investment property is in Ocala. As a long distance landlady I'm curious about what's going on in Marion County. Hope to see more of you on the forums.

Could you clarify?

Is the approx $500K for a single property you own and the property pending foreclosure something you're going to buy?

From one newbie to another, welcome @Aleemah Spence.

 We decided to walk around. Early in the morning mind you, to get a feel for an area. If I can figure out how to get my bike on the MARC, I'd rather ride around on the bike, as there are somethings you don't notice from the safety of your car. There was a lot I got a feel for walking around West Baltimore over to Poppleton and the UMD med-tech area. 

There is some great architecture in those areas, and some not so great stuff.

I'm supposed to intro myself.

Okay, here is the quick rundown.

I bought a house in 2001 in a rough "transitional" neighborhood to live in as a single woman. After 3 years it doubled in value, and has kept going up in value ever since. I rehabbed it several times in phases. I took some of the money from a refinance and bought a house in Florida. That is my 1st and right now only investment property.

Buying the Florida house for cash (it was really cheap) was the coolest thing. When there was talk of sequestration having that rental income gave us (I got married, so we/us) some peace of mind. My mother manages it (that's another story) and when we go to visit her, because we are visiting the rental, part of the trip is tax deductible. Yea!

Looking to invest in other cities with "transitional" and historic (without being in an historic district) areas.