I came across a property that is obviously vacant. I know this by the vines growing over the front entry door. I researched public records and see that the owners are over 90 years old possibly deceased or in care. Someone still pays the taxes annual every year. There is no mortgage on the property. Ive tried sending a letter to the house hoping it would be forwarded to the currently caretakers but it was just returned marked VACANT (well duh). I tried people search and found a name of a son but I called and there was no answer.
Any suggestions as to how I can find out who to contact to make an offer to buy this property?
It sounds like you’ve tried most options. You may be able to find the address of the person who pays the taxes from the tax records and send a letter there.
You can provide any and all addresses that you have related to that person, and they will probably give you enough information to make contact, usually by phone.
I just used this service for five vacant houses, and on three of them I got working phone numbers and spoke with the eager sellers. For the other two, I found one obituary and one mailing address.
It’s amazing how some people just write property off and let it go.
What state do you live in? Any broker or loan officer should be able to get this information for you from the title company. If you live in California, send me an e-mail I’ll pull up the information for you.
Please understand that I think that you trying to find the owner is a great thing, and hard to do. When I first started, I did the exact thing.
Then I asked a guy that has over 31 years of RE investing experience to be my mentor. He accepted. While driving around I saw a property that was nice and I realized it was vacant. I got excited. Then he told me some things I kind of agree with now. Here is what he said…
“The property is nice. You will spend you time, effort and maybe even some money looking at finding out who owns the home. What happens if that person does not have plans or wants to sell it? Then what? There are many properties out there that people WANT TO SELL! Those are the ones you should be spending your valuable time persuing, not the ones that MAY be sold.
It is a numbers game in this business. Go for the ones that you know for sure WILL be sold. If you have time, great but always remember there are many ohter properties out there you can get. Try not to waste your time.”
So try not to spend too much time looking into the house. Go and rive around, talk to people and find the properties that ARE being sold today!
I’d have to disagree with your mentor, renersalazar. I’ve always found that the properties “on the market” are seldom bought much below market value. Especially when an RE agent gets involved. That’s like a homicide detective interrogating a suspect who is right on the edge of confessing when he “lawyers-up”. It’s hard to get a good price when there is someone in the seller’s ear telling them how much they can get for the property.
My find-to-close ratio is about 16:1. For every 16 properties I find, 1 will be bought. The majority are owners that I just can’t find with probably 3 out of the 16 who just don’t want to sell for whatever reason (emotional attachment). Most of these are vacant properties that very few people know exist; no one advocates a higher price, no competition to out-bid you and it’s all done faster, quieter and cheaper for both parties. As long as you set a limit to how much $ and how long you spend searching for the owner, it’s still a gold mine worth exploring. Most people are VERY easy to persuade that they should sell their decaying and unused assets. It’s a lot like a yard/ garage sale in that way. Everything is always for sale, regardless if it has a sign in the front yard or not.