All Forum Posts by: Tony Rodriguez

Hello all, 

So I finally closed on an occupied property, home was owned by husband and wife, the wife is willing to sign a cash for keys agreement but the husband is no where to be found, wife says last time he has seen him was a month ago. The question is, if she is the only one signing the cash for keys agreement would I be able to take possession without legal issues? She also mentioned that she will only take her personal stuff but leave her husbands stuff in the house, would I get in trouble if dispose the husbands stuff without having his signature in the agreement? 

I'm also thinking about just filing an eviction to avoid these issues but I really want to expedite the process. 

Thanks a lot everyone, I called the title company myself this morning and told them that I would like the deed to have the word COUNTY instead of CO in the legal description and they say sure, not a problem. I'm finally closing on this property tomorrow. 

Hello all, I'm in the process on closing on a property located in Chicago and the title commitment has the legal description of the property as ... PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN, IN COOK CO ILLINOIS. but the current recorded deed has the description as ... PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN, IN COOK COUNTY ILLINOIS.

So the word COUNTY has been abbreviated to CO in the title commitment I'm supposed to sign, my lawyer says it should be OK but I'm not so sure, I have yet to find a deed in cook county that abbreviates the word cook. I'm I being too picky or can this be a potential issue when I sell the house?

Adding my 2 cents,

I did every single thing myself on my first flip except for electrical and that's because the town would only give electrical permits to registered electricians. I probably spent more time and money in doing some things compared to hiring "professionals" but what I learned in doing the work myself is invaluable, it gave me hands on experience on material costs and the level of difficulty each job takes and I can honestly say that I feel 100 times more confident in going to my next deal and I also think it has helped me avoid issues like these.

As an analogy;

During my college years I worked part time as a waiter in a very busy restaurant and I remember that the owner will make new managers work at every position for at least 1 week before permanently hiring them as managers, prospective managers would need to work 1 week as dish washers, 1 week as waiters, 1 week in the cash register etc and if they succeed then they could become managers, many quit the first week after touching the hot plates that came from the dish washing machine but the ones who made it thru the training were successful and are still working as managers today.

 Thanks Andy, that's most likely what I'm going to do, I wish I could do that right now because once the owner moves to Michigan it will be harder to track him down, meet with him etc. I'm also thinking about contacting the bank law firm that did the foreclosure and hire them for the eviction if needed since they are familiar with this case and might help me push things faster. 

The other question that I have is what if the owner tells me straight up that he has left the house, can I use his statement to take possession? This will be another question for the lawyer I mean I know there are legal rules, etc but what if I simply tell the owner that I just purchased this property and would like to know if he still lives in the house, if he says no then why would I need to evict him, offer him money, etc. lol. I also doubt that the owner is going to sign anything for 500 bucks, the owner's yearly income was about 350k based on the court docs I reviewed so if he is going to sign anything then I'm almost sure he is going to want a pretty penny, I guess I will find out soon. 

 Thanks a lot everyone for the feedback!

Here is a quick update; I spoke to the neighbor and he said that the owner and his family is moving to Michigan, apparently his retail business failed and could't make the mortgage payments anymore, neighbor also said that the owner comes back occasionally to pick up stuff that he left. I will call the utility companies and find out if the services are still active. 

@Andy Mirza, Thanks for the tip, the sheriff lockout is exactly what I was thinking about doing after doing some research here in Cook County. This is the timeline for this property thus far: 

-7/29/19 Property Sold at auction (REO, bank was highest bidder)  
-8/19/19 Judge approved the sale 
-9/2/19 Judge granted an Order for Possession to the bank 
-9/10/19 I got the home under contact as an occupied properly from the bank. 
-I'm supposed to close in a couple of weeks. 

Once this property is deeded to me I will try to get a sheriff lockout but I don't know if this will be possible because the order for possession was granted to the bank not me. Alternately, If I can't get a sheriff lockout, then I'm thinking about filing for an eviction but taking possession of the home right away at least to get the rehab going so the property wont be occupied full time but just when the contractors are doing the work, any thoughts on this will be appreciated. 

Thanks!

Thanks a lot

@Brian Ploszay @Ahmed Motiwala for your analysis and input. I googled the owners name and I found his facebook profile (with pictures of him in the house, LOL) and potentially his phone number too.

So here are a few strategies that I’m thinking about.

1. 1. Sending the owner an email or calling him stating that I just purchased this property and want to confirm that he has left the property before taking possession. Him replying yes would be the easiest route for me but probably the less likely, this owner put up a fight with the bank during the foreclosure based on the court documents I reviewed, he never hired a lawyer thought, he did it as a Pro Se so I’m pretty sure he is familiar with the system. Best case he says yes and I move in, wort case he says no and I will then have to file for an eviction, he could also just not answer.
2. 2. Same as #1 but offering him some money to sign a cash for keys agreement but I would only agree if he ask for 2K max. If he asks for a crazy amount of money then I will for sure do the eviction since he will be aware that I took possession without eviction and he could potentially file a complaint in the future.
3. 3. Take the property now and concurrently file for eviction. In this scenario I don’t know what I would tell the sheriff when he shows up to the property, lol. When the sheriff arrives, the property would be vacant since I plan to do a rehab that will take a couple of months, I guess I could just shut my mouth and just let the sheriff give me access to the property. I kind of like this scenario, I would take possession immediately and would have an eviction on record to cover myself in the future, but I find the process a bit weird.

I would appreciate any input on my 3 ideas and off course other ideas are welcome.

Thanks Again!

Hello everyone!

So I'm closing on my 3rd property situated in Chicago in the next couple of weeks. This property is an REO but will be transferred to me as an occupied property. I've drove by the property and it seem to be unoccupied; the grass is getting tall, no lights at night, no cars in driveway, no furniture visible thru the windows etc.

Based on the foreclosure papers that I revived the judge has approved the sale and has granted an ORDER FOR POSSESSION to the bank. The question is: do I still have to file an eviction after the property is deeded to me or can I just get inside the home and change the keys? I know I should be talking to a lawyer about this but I will wait to contact a lawyer until I close on this property just in case the deal falls through. 

@Ashish Acharya

Thanks for the reply

-Water, electric, gas etc bills on property B have been under my name since I purchased the property, I have electronic copies of all utility bills since I purchased the property 

-The utility bills on property A are under my parents name, they pay all the utility bills on property A, I can ask them for copies of these bills

-I have claimed the property tax deduction for both properties, A and B, my parents have not

-I don't have any rental income from either property and I have never claimed rental income

-The address on all my tax returns has been property A

So my understanding is that I don't have to live two years continuously but I have to live in the property for two total years (730 days) to qualify for this deduction, I can use this argument to explain some of the inconsistencies. 

If the IRS rejects my claim, is there any other way to save money with this taxable gain?

Hello, I have a 1099 S taxable gain deduction question.

Background:

I own two homes free and clear, I’ve owned property A for 12 years and property B for 3 years. When I purchased property B I moved in it to rehab it for the first year and then I’ve used it to live in it Monday to Friday, I spend the weekends in my other home or in my girlfriend’s house most of the time. My parents live in Property A and they pay all the bills for that property. All my documentation, driver license, mail etc has the property A address, I never bothered to change anything when I purchased property B.

Issue:

I’m now selling property B and hope to not have a taxable gain. I purchased the home in August, 2015 so I have owned it for over 3 years and I’ve paid all the bills ever since I purchased it. I bought property B for $100K and will list it for about $300K, so I will have a gain of $200K, I also spent about $50K in the rehab.

Question:

When I sell property B I will receive a 1099 S since the selling price will be over $250K, I will claim that I lived in the property for 2 years in my income tax return even though my personal documentation says otherwise, the question I have is; will the IRS question reject my claim? I’m not sure how to prove that I lived in property B for over 2 years other that the bills, I can also get affidavit from my parents stating that they lived in property A and that I never lived with them during the last 3 years. Does anybody if I will able to avoid the taxable gain when I sell property B? has anybody ever been in this situation?