Posted by Benja on May 25, 2006 at 12:09:51:
I’ve made contact with the correct city division, and I’ll be making a visit in person. Thanks for the info.
Uninhabitable Property - Posted by Benja
Posted by Benja on May 24, 2006 at 22:54:19:
I found a property that the city has declared uninhabitable. Can these types of properties be bought? What procedures do I need to follow to gain access to the property to inspect it? I planned on doing a skip trace to find the owner. Which is the most cost effective skip trace service?
Thanks
Re: Uninhabitable Property - Posted by Max-Va
Posted by Max-Va on May 25, 2006 at 08:27:20:
Assume that it needs bulldozed and a new building.
Go find the owners
Re: Uninhabitable Property - Posted by M.Osterman
Posted by M.Osterman on May 25, 2006 at 24:20:06:
Inspect it? What more do you need to know? Just get on with the skip trace.
Re: Uninhabitable Property - Posted by David Krulac
Posted by David Krulac on May 25, 2006 at 18:59:02:
there’s a condemned property here becasue the owner had too many cats, 28, I think. Neighbors complaimed health and codes people came and condemned the house unfit for human habitation. Boy does it ever smell. But as Ron Legrand sez, “it smells like money”.
Re: Uninhabitable Property - Posted by Benja
Posted by Benja on May 25, 2006 at 09:56:54:
So, if I was planning to wholesale properties to other investors, this doesn’t sound like a deal to pursue unless the land has value. Does that sound right?
Re: bulldozed??? - Posted by Matt (MPD) IL
Posted by Matt (MPD) IL on May 25, 2006 at 09:54:49:
Don’t assume anything of the sort.
Most of the property I have rehabbed had been tagged by the city as uninhabitable. A house can be condemned for many reasons:
The water may have been shut off (or other utilities) for non-payment.
There could have been a fire causing significant structural damage.
The previous owner died without a will and no heirs or the house was abandoned for any other reason and sat vacant becoming a nuissance because of vagrants and vandals.
There are any number of other reasons a city or township might tag a property as uninhabitable but you won’t know until you look at it.
The easiest way to find out what’s wrong with the house is to go down to the city and fill out a request form (freedom of information act form) to find out what code violations have been noted on the property. Usually you can wait for the results, however in some areas you might have to have it faxed or mailed to you at a later time. It doesn’t cost a thing except a little time and the only information you need to know is the property address.
It’s at least worth the little time expended to find out if the property is even worth persuing. If the code violations are minor by your standards, you might have just found a great deal waiting to happen.
Good luck.
Matt
Re: Uninhabitable Property - Posted by Max-Va
Posted by Max-Va on May 25, 2006 at 10:26:41:
This is complicated.
My advise before was to decide if it was worth the time to track down the owners, I believe it is worth pursuing.
The city or county has records that show why the property has been deemed inhabitable. I believe it is the building dept. but maybe somewhere else where your are. Go there and ask for the list of code violations that caused the property to be inhabitable. It may take 24 hours or so for them to get the list to you. It may be minor stuff or some thing(s) major.
Also I would check tax records to see if taxes are current and who they send the tax bill to.
I would not rule this out or in yet, you are still hunting for infomation.
If you plan to wholesale it is all in the numbers. Value can be in ther land, building, or both
Re: bulldozed??? - Posted by Benja
Posted by Benja on May 26, 2006 at 14:44:45:
If I were to wholesale this property to a rehabber with the title being encumbered by the violations, what would you suggest as a solution contractually speaking (something like a “subject-to” clause, maybe)? In your experience, how do rehabbers deal with these issues? I guess it may depend on the severity of the violations, but I’ll allow you to elaborate.
Thanks.