Posted by Rosie(CA) on May 02, 1999 at 22:38:47:
Hi,
I sympathize with you.
I’ve got a similar situation: great neighborhood but incompetent owner and ‘his buddy’ Do-It-Yourself’ed it into oblivion.
One example: Do-It-Yourself foundation work is a baaaad idea! They REMOVED the dirt from inside the crawl space to pour a concrete floor - after the foundation wall cracked and moved inward 1/4 inch they braced it with 2x4s and some concrete blocks. I believe entire house has moved off foundation. And here we are in earthquake country!!
I would expect it could be worth about $300K-$350K as perfect 2/1 on 7200 sf.
A broker told him it was worth $300K AS IS and that it can be rezoned to commercial then sell it as extension of parking lot for office building behind it, blah blah blah. It’s currently zoned R2.
He paid $96K (he said) for it 5 years ago, then destroyed it. And filled inside and outside with junk (neighbor called code enforcement about it). I will have my contractor look at it. I would only be willing to pay (i.e. take subject to existing private note) about what he still owes on it (he said $74K) due to probability of demolishing existing house and rebuilding new one. And I’d try to buy the note at a discount too!
Have to confirm the facts and get the visions of $$$ out of his head.
Good luck on your situation. I’ll be interested to hear what the others suggest. I think these owners should pay us!
Rosie