All Forum Posts by: Darrin Wesenberg

or @Aaron Bae did you ever find some good ones?

@adam fansler did you ever come up with that recommended list of contractors? 

@Mike Watkins one of the first things I did was to send them a handwritten postcard (way before contacting this lady) but got no response.  my research found they have 2 daughters, and I have their names and ages but that's about it--their names are very common.

everyone, what are some good background check/person locator sites?  I even paid for a report through BeenVerified for the husband but it didn't amount to anything.

Thanks for the replies everyone!  I took @Darrin Carey's advice (because any fellow Darrin automatically rules) and contacted Bill Warner.  He's been a pleasure to deal with so far, and our inspection is scheduled for Monday.

Hey everyone, thanks for the replies!

@Luis Montanez and @Karen Petty the owners actually are in Marietta, Cobb County!  I will PM you their address.  I have verified that this is their home address on the Cobb County Assessor page.

@Neal Collins I don't want it to sound like I'm quite to the point yet of "raising an army" haha (but close!).  The one specific thing she said that triggered my uneasy feeling was that she said she was "buying the property" and that they have a "recorded land contract" with the Franklin County Recorder... that doesn't exist.  Based upon that, and her demeanor, and the local newspaper article I just have a bad gut feeling about her--and I generally have pretty good "gut feelings".  Now, it's possible that they very well DO have a Land Contract and it just hasn't been recorded, and she was just trying to get me off the phone.  That could certainly be the case.

@Richard Balsam I understand completely--there are plenty of other properties out there.  The reason really want to pursue this (besides making sure she isn't breaking the law) is because my friends fell in love with this property, and it's right next door to where their other friends live.  I'm a newbie agent here in Ohio and want to help out my friends as best I can, and prove that I am willing to go the extra mile.  This might just be going the extra 2 miles!

@Melissa Gittens I have verified that they are the owners through county records.  Franklin County here in Ohio keeps very thorough records online.

@James Noe, I bought a foreclosure in Wooster in 2010 (when the market was way down) for next to nothing at an online auction, for my gf to live in while she was attending OSU ATI.  I had to put quite a bit of money into it, but it turned out to be a great little property, about a mile or so from the College of Wooster.  She graduated in 2013, but despite living in Columbus I've kept the property because it cash flows so well.  My biggest problem in Wooster was finding reliable contractors!  Seems like I encountered some sort of issue with every single one.  Please let me know if you (or anyone else in the Wooster area) develop a reliable contractor list!  And best of luck!

@Mayank S., ever find a good home inspector in Dayton? I'm in the same boat. Appraiser too!

@Mayank S., ever find anyone? I'm in the same boat. Appraiser too!

Hey all, I wasn't sure where to post this. Got a hairy situation...

I'm a licensed agent here in Ohio, and recently started looking into a local abandoned property for a friend. I used public records to figure out the owners are an elderly couple living in Georgia. The property taxes have been paid on time through their mortgage lender and are current.  I used every possible "person locator" online and found their Georgia address but no valid phone #. I sent a postcard to their Georgia address but no reply.  I saw they owned another property here in town, and that property actually had a name and phone # listed for a local rental contact person from 2010.  I contacted the number, expecting it to be disconnected, but the woman actually answered. I very nicely told her I was interested in this abandoned property, and saw her name was on the owners' other property, and asked if she might have contact information for the owners. She immediately got extremely defensive and wouldn't really talk or answer any of my questions. She told me that tenants were going to be moving in soon (which I knew was a lie--this property has been vacant too long for someone to be "moving in soon").  She finally very abruptly ended the call with something to the effect that she is buying the property, and they have a recorded land contract. I noted the fact that she said "recorded", as in with the county recorder.  I didn't believe a word this woman said and knew something fishy was going on.  I searched for a land contract on this property on the county recorder site and unsurprisingly found nothing.

I googled her name and found a local newspaper article about a property she owned burning down and she didn't address it nor could be reached for comment. She owns a couple rentals in "less than desirable" areas of town, meanwhile living in a mansion in a nice suburb.

I know this lady is up to no good. My hunch is that she's collecting some sort of property management fee from this couple, and/or telling them it's rented for X and only sending them Y amount that she's collecting from some other property--basically she's figured out some way to profit off this couple. They probably have no idea this place has fallen into such disrepair since they're old and live many states away. I also noticed it was listed on the MLS like 3 different times from about 2005-2009, so they tried selling it in the past.

So I'd like some advice as to what I should do next?  Do I call an attorney? The police?  The real estate commission?  My friend still wants to buy the property so I just want to find the owners and make sure this lady isn't taking advantage of them!

@Lori C. did you ever find a good local 203k contractor in Central Ohio?