Good Morning,
Have you ever seen that diamond in the rough that is not for sale? You know it is worth a fortune, however, the home is not for sale?
I have the Tax I.D. number and the owners name. Write a letter? I would never want to insult the person but would love to renovate this home. It is in a highly sought after area and I woiuld love to contact the owner in a way that he would be interested and not offended. Any ideas?
Thanks,
Shaughno
Don’t worry about insulting the owner of the property. You interested in buying his home and there isn’t anything insulting about that. Even if you do insult him, its not like your ever going to see him so it shouldn’t bother you that much. In all honesty, you trying to help him. That property could be costing him a lot of money and your giving him a solution to his problem of having a vacant home.
There are different ways to find the owner of the house. Talk with the neighbors on both sides and across the street to see if they know how to contact the owner. They should be anxious to help you because they know that having a vacant home isn’t helping their property values. Send a letter to the owner saying that you are an investor and that you are interested in purchasing the property upon further analysis. Check the phone book to see if there is a new phone number listed for him or another address.
I would suggest calling the owner if possible. Its a better way to reach them. If all u have is an address them you should be able to get the phone number online with a little bit of research.
Hope this helps.
You can also try the local tax accessors office and see if you can find the owner that way.
As I mentioned I have all the info to contact the owner. The home is not for sale and he is currently living in it. He is an elderly person and probably at this time in his life not very interested in relocating. My question is HOW to approch this person…Letter? Phone contact was mentioned but then the ususal hang up is the case. I would like to open up a contact. He may not be interested in a current sale but the future would work for us as well. Perhaps a letter with a self addressed stamped envelope, if nothing else I may get a response. Maybe an offer to purchase the property and we would pay for the rehab and he can rent from us. Being elderly and by the look of the home the day to day upkeep seems to be lacking. Has anyone out there done this with a positive response?
Thanks again.
Shaughno
I wouldn’t bother him. If he can’t relocate and the house isn’t for sale I doubt that he will move just because you want the house. And the fact he is old makes it immoral.
Move on there are better deals. The problem with lots of investors is that they fall in love with these houses and can’t understand that sometimes you get the bear and sometimes you don’t.
Immoral???
I hardly think offering to purchase a home from someone who obviously cannot afford it is immoral. He will have the option to communicate with me or not. End of story.
My point was that I am in a position to help him and I don’t want him to be afraid of this.
I’m looking for an option that he may be interested in.
I don’t come to this forum to be ridiculed. Positive responses are so much more effective.
Does the owner have any family nearby? They may want the older gentleman to downsize to something that can more easily be maintained by him. Maybe he’s never had the opportunity because they haven’t been able to sell his house. You never know until you ask.
Our last group of houses was owned by an older gentleman whose family convinced him it was time to sell. If you don’t ask, someone else might.
The way you presented your post it looked like you want to boot the old man out so you can make a quick buck. You want to help him cool than approach him directly. Knock on his door and talk to him,introduce yourself to him and tell him you’re interested in his property. Ask him if he is willing to move into family to lessen the burden of maintaining his home. Tell him you’ll buy it all cash and close really quickly. You have to be tactful though if you sound like an investor with dollar signs in his eyes you’ll end up scaring him off.
But do this because you want to help him out not just so you can put money in your pocket. That’s what I was talking about being immoral.
Why dont you stop by and simply introduce yourself. Get to know him, focus your attention on his needs, and motivation. If you know when he is somewhat free, you may be able to bump into him. If you have a nice conversation with him, you will know right away if and when there might be reason to engage your services. If anything, you made a friend and contact.
Justin0419 and Oahuopps,
I have had luck in sending out letters to destressed property owners in the past.
Think I’ll go this route. I have the name and address from the tax info. Not sure if he even lives in the home currently but he is paying the tax on it.
Hopefully, I’ll get a response from the gentleman.
Thank You for your input.
Shaughno
I don’t see anything immoral about this as long as there is a benefit for everyone. When I was young my grandfather passed away leaving my grandmother behind and I wished someone like you had come along. Instead of finding someone who wanted to help, my aunt took control of things and eventually liquidated everything at discount rates. She put my grandmother in her garage, using the credit my grandparents had built together to renovate the garage into something livable. My point here is that my grandmother deserved to pass away in her home, not a garage with her credit and reputation ruined. This may not seem important to a lot of people but it was important to my grandfather.
If you approach this guy you should be able to establish a relationship with him. Find out if he has his senses. If not, ask him if there’s a friend or family member who helps him make financial decisions. Tell him you’re an investor and share your ideas with him. If he’s elderly then he may have more business experience than you give him credit for. Sit down and discuss business with him.
He may be 3 weeks away from a retirement community or a funeral home with a crack head daughter waiting in the wings. He may have a relative who has already taken advantage of him and is just waiting for him to pass.
I don’t see any reason why you can’t go in there, make a friend and create a win win for everyone.
Be fair. If he sees that in your eyes you’ll probably make an old man happy.
Good luck,
John
If he has the old mans best interest than no it’s not immoral but if he just wants the property without any remorse towards the old man than it’s immoral.
I might have misread the OP’s post I just got a bad vibe from his post it sounded like all he cared about was the property if I misread it I apologize.
If you really want to help the old man than I encourage you to help him with his problem at all cost. Go talk to him,get to know him don’t mentioned the property right up front. A little tip why not take him out to lunch to get to know him better he might tell you reasons why the home is in the conditions that it’s in. Than tell him you can solve his problem by buying the property at a reasonable price and go from there.
A lot of people still put a lot of stock in actually talking to a real person. This man may be one of those who wouldn’t deal with an automated operator on the phone because, in his day, he was able to call and talk to another human on the other end of the line.
It takes more effort on your part, but I think he’ll appreciate it and you may have a better chance by actually talking to him in person. Otherwise you may just be another postcard in the mail of someone trying to screw him out of his property.
Thanks to all who have an opinion on this.
Yes, including you, Mr. Investor. Yes, again, on your major “misread” of the post. By the way an honest apology is not conditional.
I have composed a letter to the property owner with a return envelope.
Hopefully, I will hear something in return. Think more due diligence is in the picture until then.
Shaughno
What I get from your post is your seeing dollar signs and that is what an investor basically does. It appears you have a neglected home and not a distressed owner.
If this guy is like my late father in law he wants to be buried on the property. How about you quit telling us about the property and start telling us about the owner? At the present you have very little info and a lot of assumptions.
Plus dealing with the elderly can come back and bite you in the …
I watched a case in California where an elderly women took the investor to the cleaners using elder abuse and other laws. Nice investor fixed up her house really nice for her.
So do a little more research, how long has he owner the property? Does he owe anything? Go knock on the door and say when I first saw your property I thought you might be interested in selling and moving to somewhere that would be easier to take care of but now I think that this home is where you want to live for several more years, am I right about that? try and build some rapport and gather info.on his situation that is the key to the deal. Ask and listen and listen and listen.
What about a Purchase/Sales Agreement for a fixed price that kicks in upon his death? Kinda pre-probate. Is that legal? :deal
What about buying out any liens on the property and then foreclosing? :cool
What about just moving on to the next house. :arrow