Garage Sale Bargain (Long) - Posted by Paul_NJ

Posted by JohnB_NJ on April 23, 1999 at 19:32:06:

Alright Paul! Way to go! You went looking for bargains and you just might have found a gem. Keep us up to date on your progress.

PS: I flipped my Handyman special for 10k. The gentleman is coming over tomorrow to sign the contract. Doing a double close and he is paying closing costs. First flip for me. I am excited and nervous at the same time. I just want it to go smoothly. My title company assures me that they will handle it without any problems. Here’s hoping!

Good investing!

Sincerely,

JohnB

Garage Sale Bargain (Long) - Posted by Paul_NJ

Posted by Paul_NJ on April 23, 1999 at 16:11:24:

Hello All,

Just wanted to say how much I enjoy reading the messages on this board and wanted to post an event that happened to me today.
It was a light rain here in New Jersey and my wife looked bored and asked me to take her out to a few local garage sales. So the nice husband that I am, I agreed. After leaving the second one and being quite damp we pass a text book vacant property. Overgrown shrubs and yard with a couple broken windows etc. My wife looks at me and says “stop the truck”! I back up and park and get out to check it over. I see real potential here and what scares me is my wife does also. I walked across the street because I saw a front door open at a neighbors house and knocked to see if I could find out any information about the vacant house. After about 10 minutes my wife came over to rescue me from the older woman that would not let my ear go! From the conversation I found out that the house has been vacant for over 5 years and that the woman that owns it has no children and is in a local nursing home and she thinks that she deeded it to the nursing home. I immediately stop our garage sale search and went directly to the town tax collectors office to see if the taxes are current and who the owner is. The collector knows the property immediately and says the womans name, that the neighbor told me it was and that they have had many inquires about the property. I asked what address the tax bill is mailed to and was told to a PO Box and the taxes are current. I think the one thing I have going for me is the neighbor told me what nursing home the owner is in so, guess where we headed? My wife came in with me when we went to the nursing home along with our 11 week old puppy, who was a big hit at the door along with everywhere else we went to find the owner. The owner was in her late seventies and from what it appeared didn’t get too many visitors. I introduced myself along with my wife and puppy and told her how we were out at garage sale and passed her house and how we were interested in buying it. My wife mentioned to her how she liked the lovely flowers blooming in the garden and how much she would like to clean up the yard and house to make it look like I’m sure it did when she lived there! The puppy was a big hit too, did I mention that! Anyway, after a short visit the owner told us she was thinking of selling the property and would like our name and phone number and would get back to us. I know your probably wondering why we didn’t pull out a contract. I always have a few in my truck but I wanted to let the owner think about it and I’ll check back with her in a few days. I’ll let everyone know how it turns out! My wife wants to know what time we are going to garage sales tomorrow?

Good Luck To All,

Paul Vitovic

Re: Garage Sale Bargain (Long) - Posted by Irwin

Posted by Irwin on April 23, 1999 at 20:27:40:

I hope you score a successful deal with her. Be sure to check the title closely before laying out any purchase or repair money. There might be liens against the propety for medical and nursing home bills .

Re: Garage Sale Bargain (Long) - Posted by Jeff (FL)

Posted by Jeff (FL) on April 23, 1999 at 19:58:40:

Paul,

What a great opportunity you found. The puppy could be the deciding factor. Please let us know what happens.

Jeff (FL)