Posted by Brian, WI on March 14, 2001 at 15:15:27:
Thanks for responding Sue, I appreciate it.
As for the market, there are similar duplexs listed anywhere from about $75,000 to $120,000 (big span I know). I had also spoken with the sellers (Power of Attorneys) brother and he gave a $90,000 price off the top of his head. Again there is no rental history, but I would think I can get at least $575 for the lower and $500 for the upper. I know with those rents, $90,000 is way out of line, I think it would have to be more like $75,000.
I thought I could, and still can avoid the agent, since I spoke with the seller before she contracted with the agent. The seller also said she is only going with a 30 listing. I may take my chances and ride that time out, or call the seller back to get a better feeling of how flexable they are.
Posted by Brian, WI on March 13, 2001 at 23:49:13:
There is a duplex (2up/3dn) for sale(not with realtor yet) next to one of my rooming houses. Today, March 13, 2001, I went to the property and spoke with the daughter(power of attorney) of the owner, who just went into a nursing home. The daughter has been emptying out the duplex (mother was a pack rat) in order to try to sell it. I wasn’t able to get upstairs(not rented) but was told it use to be a small rooming house(music to my ears). There are newer furnaces, water heater, and electric, so everything that way seems sound, but the kitchen and bath are outdated and the rest could use some paint.
Anyway, the POA(power of attorney) didn’t give me a sale price and is looking for something fair, but told her there is no rental history, and says she is meeting with a real estate agent tomorrow. The POA and family is trying to sell in order to make sure their mother can stay/afford to be in the nursing home, something about Medicade getting cut off, or something to that affect.
So with what little information I have, is there anything I can do to “help” the family meet the expenses of the nursing home for their mother, and obtain the property at a good price too?
I know it’s not a lot, but because of the situation and what seems like a need/want to sell quick, I thought I check here for some ideas and imput.
The difficulty with property or any asset is that you have to spend your way into poverty before medicaid will pay for the nursing home costs. This means getting it out of the persons name ASAP. Many states look back four years to determine eligibility for the help. There is even a law that makes it a criminal offense for an attorney to advise how to circumvent the rules. There are some creative ways to solve the problem. The standard approach is to sell cheap, spend the money on her care until she is eligible for medicaid. That is what you are challenged with.
Brian, you may already be too late, once a realtor has it, your opportunities for doing something “creative” diminish significantly.
You didn’t say what the market was, what teh asking price was, etc., so we don’t know if it was a good deal or not.
Assuming it was a good deal, i.e, that there is some profit in this for you, if you had been able to find out what they needed in cash right away to pay for the nursing home, you might have been able to buy it for that amount up front, with them taking back a mortgage.
There are lots and lots of other ways you could handle this. It sounds like you were at the right place at the right time but didn’t have the tools at your fingertips to take advantage of it. Without being able to make her an offer on the spot, you may be stuck dealing with her agent. She may have to pay 6% of anything you agree on to the agent she contracts with, making her a lot less willing to deal on price.
Technically, she talked to you before contracting with the agent, so you might do a deal w/o the agent involved, but good luck on that one. Agents on this board might be able to comment better than me.