All Forum Posts by: Patrick McCandless

@Spencer Stensrude that has always been a question of mine, but title companies have told me that since I was in the second position the first still remains. If they were to foreclose, however, I would be wiped out. At least that's my understanding. 

@Ned Carey so do I just continue to do nothing? Wait until maybe the value of the home gets back up to where I actually CAN sell it, pay off the 1st, and get something out of it? Is it something I can quit claim to someone for say $5,000 if they are willing to spend another $5,000 to fix it up and rent it out themselves? Maybe contact the neighbor who shares the well with me? Spitballing...

Thanks for the response @Ned Carey. No I'm not paying the first and don't intend to. If this home was in a more desirable area I would hands down fix it up and rent it back out. Unfortunately, it's a manufactured home in the middle of nowhere amongst only about 6 other homes and gravel road access. Just not your ideal rental property. Again, I honestly feel the only reason I was able to rent it out in the first place was that the previous renters pulled the trigger sight unseen from Michigan. They complained several times about it not being what they thought it was. I'm just afraid of putting a bunch of money into it and not being able to rent it out at all. I'm at the point where I don't want the headache and would rather offload it, but not if I'm not going to get anything out of it anyways.

@Patrick Liska Totally my thoughts. I just don't get it. Will see what the title search turns up.

@Patrick Liska I had a free consultation with an attorney about 4 or 5 years ago and he basically told me that if the property was sold then the proceeds would pay off the outstanding balance of the first lien and any remaining would go to me. Like I said though, the value of the home isn't anywhere near the payoff so I would see nothing out of it. It sounds like I really just need to speak to the right person at Wells Fargo I think and see about negotiating the payoff so I can actually get something out of it.

Going back to your comment about the taxes, wouldn't they actually WANT to continue to pay the taxes to make sure no one can create a tax lien on the property?

@Patrick Liska what do you mean by "push on the foreclosure and see if they contact you"? As in just try to get through to someone to let them know I foreclosed and am now the owner?

Yes I told myself that it would dumb to put any money into it when the last tenants vacated which was about 6 years ago. It's been sitting ever since.

I will have my title company pull title and see if anything has popped up over the last few years. It's been about that long since I last did one. 

I've tried reaching out to them in the past and they won't talk to me since my name is nowhere on the loan. The place isn't worth what the current payoff amounts to as it was purchased/built in 2005 so I will definitely need to get them to come down. Any advice on how I might be able to reach someone about that? I mean if they haven't foreclosed in all this time wouldn't you think that it's either slipped through the cracks or they just don't see any upside to foreclosing? They are just throwing away money on taxes/insurance.

I've written this thing off so long ago that I haven't even given thought toward posting about it on here, but maybe someone might have an answer to this nightmare. Here goes.

In 2005 at the age of 18 I tragically lost my dad and he left me with a small sum of money. Nothing major, but if I had it today with the (mediocre compared to most on here) knowledge and experience I now have I can't help but sit here looking at my 4 day old daughter and wonder what I could've turned that into.

NUTSHELL: I loaned $40k of what was left to me from my dad to a guy who stopped paying me. Even though I was in second position behind a (roughly) $150k loan held by Wells Fargo I was advised to foreclose which I did and have been the owner of the property ever since. I've recooped a decent portion of my losses by renting the place out and essentially pocketing the entire rent amount, less maintenance and management fees. Heck, Wells Fargo still pays the taxes on the place. I paid insurance on it for a little bit basically just to protect myself from the renters, not for a loss of the actual property.

The last tenants trashed the place several years back and I had no desire to fix it back up. A little due to the fact it's a manufactured home in bum-f**k nowhere and a little due to the fact that it was still a reminder of what I did with pops' money he left me. My question has always been, "How can I get money out of this place?" I firmly believe the only reason I was able to secure tenants in there in the first place was that they were a retired couple who rented sight-unseen from Michigan. It would take thousands to get it back into decent shape and I don't know that I would be able to secure another tenant to be honest.

Property Info:

1.25 acres of land

5BR/3BA manufactured home 

Something like 2,400sf if I remember correctly

Any help with my options on this would be greatly appreciated. I've always felt like I just tossed his money out the window and it sickens me to think about it which is why I'm just now posting this on here.

Anyways, thanks in advance to anyone who might be able to help.

Hey Justin Armstrong welcome to BP. You're the same age I was when I got started in real estate shenanigans. You've come to the right place I'll tell you that much. Just start reading blog posts, listening to past podcasts, eavesdropping on forum posts, etc and you will grow your knowledge base quickly. Don't ever hesitate to reach out if I can help answer questions. Good luck!

This is a great thread! You hit the nail on the head @Jessica Jay-Maleski!