All Forum Posts by: Razmig Yeremian

Try to find a way to reach out to the owner, could also be through your attorney. Unfortunately Philly is the WOAT for things like this, but nonetheless this is an encroachment and is illegal. Especially if it is causing damage to your home. Waiting longer might make this foundation issue irreversible as the property I believe you are talking about is an older row home with brick and stone foundation. 

That sounds fairly typical in Philly, L&I/the city will doubtfully be of any help. If it were me I would search the property under Atlas and find the owners contact info and call or send them a letter. See if you can get them to pay for/help pay for the tree removal and foundation issues. Then depending on how that goes talk to your lawyer about how realistic it would be to get this money back and the costs associated with it. 

If the neighbor’s tree is in fact causing the damage, this is a slam dunk trespass case. If it were my problem I would first send a demand letter to the owner of the tree advising of the damage (current and future estimated) and requiring abatement… and if no agreement was reached I would sue for the same legal and equitable relief.

@Razmig Yeremian I would start with a letter to the owner. Then one from your attorney. Then seek advise from your attorney if you should take this to the local court first. Then ultimately if you attorney feels its worth the trouble, take the owner to the county courthouse and fight this.

You need to be careful. It may cost you more to fight the battle once you hire an attorney and there is no guarantee that you win. Even if you do win, getting paid from the neighbor may or may not happen anytime soon.

Hey guys!  First-time poster here, as I was directed to this site by reddit's /r/property management subforum for a recent posting I submitted.

 As the posting states, just won a bid through auction on a foreclosed property I was hoping to turn around and put up for rent within the next month or so.  The closing date is in 30 days from now but I've already submitted by earnest deposit (~$4000).

Be it that this was a whole new experience for me, as I have purchased properties through conventional means in the past (real estate agent, inspector, etc.) - I was quite excited about the new endeavor, considering how great of a price I was paying for what seemed to be a pretty stellar rowhome in Philadelphia. A previous property management company had posted a video on YouTube circa 2018 showcasing - what seemed to be - a fully renovated home, so I figured how bad could things have gotten that a fresh coat of paint can't fix, right?

Well, to repeat myself, and as the posting states, I think I bought a crack house. As I approached the home this evening to scope it out after work - from across the street mind you - the door quickly swung open and I was (un)warmly welcomed by a woman who was seemingly under the influence of either crack or meth, as her vibe felt strongly fueled by paranoia, exacerbation, and a very short attention span. From the sound of things, there seemed to be multiple people within the property, or at least very least another woman and a man, whom I witnessed walk into the home within the first few moments of me arriving to the location.

The contract of the sales agreement stated that I am not to approach the homeowners until the closing of the property. I would like to stress the point that my intention was NOT to approach the current tenant/squatter/crack-house manager whatsoever; all I wanted to do was get a feel of the neighborhood on foot and just admire what I thought was a savvy investment decision.

So at this point in time, what I'm coming to the Bigger Pockets community for, is any guideline that I can follow, or stories of similar experiences and how you got through them. What can I do to make the best of this situation? Your advice and input would be GREATLY appreciated. I just want to prepare myself as best as possible here. I'm starting things off by calling the local police department to retrieve any information that I can get on the property and its potential tenant/squatter/crack-house manager.  Should I just cut my losses and move on?  Is it worth it to reach out to a real-estate attorney for guidance?

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!

Talk to neighbours and introduce yourself.  Ask about the area and the house.  Ron has some good advice.  Also read your contract as to what happens if it is not vacant at closing BEFORE you close from someone who is experienced with auctions.  For a normal closing (not auction), you'd check the place before you close to make sure it is vacant and in the same condition as when you viewed it or you do not close.

Quote from @Razmig Yeremian:

Quote from @Ron Brady:

We purchased a home on auction with occupants we believed were users. 

Pre-auction, we'd driven by the home, front and rear, over several different days and at various times of the day. We also did a lot of internet sleuthing on our suspected occupants pre-purchase, giving us a picture of what we may be dealing with. We then built into our pre-purchase financial analysis, assumptions that the inside of the house would be damaged and poorly maintained and that we'd have costs associated with getting the people out and delays getting into the home. Everything played out post-purchase as we planned--a mess inside, failed cash-for-keys effort, court costs, sheriff's removal of squatters, completely missing furnace, etc. But it's been one of our best investments so far since we built it all into our numbers.

Recommendations:

1. Build your financial analysis based on what I describe above. If it doesn't work in a reasonably bad case, walk away now and think of the $4K as tuition to the school of hard knocks.

2. If you wish to go ahead, work hand-in-hand with an experienced eviction attorney on legally removing the residents. Build these costs into your analysis.

3. If you wish to go ahead, make sure the surrounding neighborhood is good and this is just one bad house that you will turn around. A bad neighborhood is a non-starter for us.

Best wishes!

 Everything checks out for the most part, with the exception of point 3 regarding the neighborhood; going in I knew it wasn't the greatest.  Nevertheless, seeing a 70% increase in home value over the course of the last 7 years, the purchase price of the home, and potentially working out a lease agreement with a Philly-centric real estate attorney to cover myself as best as possible - I'm figuring "what's the worst that can happen?"  I feel like I'll probably suffer some backlash for that last comment...

Philadelphia seems to be bursting in the seam with real estate activity. I may be wrong here, but beyond the current hurdle of said occupant, I don't really see any downsides long-term. As long as I collect rent for the next 6-8 years to cover my immediate expenses (taxes, HELOC repayment, insurance), figure I'll build equity which I can eventually draw from in the future. What do you think?

There are successful investors across all types of neighborhoods. Each neighborhood type requires slightly different investor strengths and weaknesses. We know we’d not yield returns in a challenging neighborhood commensurate with the financial and mental costs to us. But if you’re experienced in that area or feel you will be, there are others before you who have been successful. Best wishes!

@Razmig Yeremian why didn't you do your homework by getting the list of foreclosures being sold, then scope them out BEFORE you bid?

Lesson learned the hard way!

Highly probable everything that can be sold is gone from the house. You'll also probably find disgusting surprises - we once had to clean out a tub squatters were using to take dumps in:(

Recommend you find local mentor ASAP to guide you through this. 

We purchased a home on auction with occupants we believed were users. 

Pre-auction, we'd driven by the home, front and rear, over several different days and at various times of the day. We also did a lot of internet sleuthing on our suspected occupants pre-purchase, giving us a picture of what we may be dealing with. We then built into our pre-purchase financial analysis, assumptions that the inside of the house would be damaged and poorly maintained and that we'd have costs associated with getting the people out and delays getting into the home. Everything played out post-purchase as we planned--a mess inside, failed cash-for-keys effort, court costs, sheriff's removal of squatters, completely missing furnace, etc. But it's been one of our best investments so far since we built it all into our numbers.

Recommendations:

1. Build your financial analysis based on what I describe above. If it doesn't work in a reasonably bad case, walk away now and think of the $4K as tuition to the school of hard knocks.

2. If you wish to go ahead, work hand-in-hand with an experienced eviction attorney on legally removing the residents. Build these costs into your analysis.

3. If you wish to go ahead, make sure the surrounding neighborhood is good and this is just one bad house that you will turn around. A bad neighborhood is a non-starter for us.

Best wishes!