Some help on this one?

Bird Dogs, Wholesaling
1

Hi, huge lurker, havent had much cause to ask any questions yet, but I have one now so Im hoping to get some advice on how best to go forward.

Found a 2 unit flat, got it under contract for 4.5k. Wholesaling it for 9.5k.

There seems to be multiple listed owners on the deed, I believe 5. 2 have since passed. One of the owners who is still alive contacted me about selling. They all live out of state but one. Since Im still kind of new, I was a dummy and told him to collect quit claim deeds from everyone who has some kind of stake in the property, including the heirs of the deceased owners. This way, I could deal with just the one owner, and also, he would be the only one who would have to go to closing. That was in the heat of the moment, and later thought, duh, would have been easier, and better, to just get them to sign a power of attorney for the property. Idk. Thoughts on this? Anyway, the other living owners son, said he didnt want his father signing a quit claim deed and doing it that way, so I figured fine, his father can just sign the P&S agreement when the time comes, then get 5 QCDs from the heirs. So in total, it would be 5 QCDs, and 2 other owners signing selling docs. Im getting a headache here lol.

This far along, hes got 3 QCDs signed in his possesion, waiting on 2 to come back from Colorado or something. I plan on taking a trip to get the one live signature on the P&S agreement, bout 90 min, so not bad (although Im waiting on a call from that guys son, who didnt want him to sign the qcd, im going to try and talk him into letting his father just sign it).

My quetion is, at this point, is there anything I can do to clean this mess up Ive made? Is there something I can do to simplify this or something I can change from this point moving forward to make this easier? Cant imagine what the title search is going to come up with on this one. Live and learn…

2

Honestly, with so many names on the title, I would have gotten at least a Title Search. Imagine what will happen if you mess this up. A miss spelling of the name could have serious ramifications down the road. My parents were trying to sell a home they have owned for almost 10 years and low and behold there was a QC deed that was not properly prepared and in the end they lost their buyer and spent thousands in legal fees. I would highly recommend obtaining title insurance.

3

Thanks for the response. I have since done a TON of research on this stuff, and done a title search myself. There are 4 owners on the deed. 2 have passed. One has heirs, one does not, except for the other owners listed on the deed already, siblings. Deed was recorded as tenants in common, so quit claims mean nothing as the property hasnt been probated. The one with 4 heirs died in 05, the other this past Nov 2013. One of the deceased lived in another state as well, the one with 4 heirs, who also live in other, 3rd and 4th states. Seems like this is going to be a big mess for 5k

4

Like I said, if this is not done perfectly and I mean perfectly, you could have an absolutely huge nightmare when you decide to sell. I would not touch this transaction with a 10 foot pole unless a title company is willing to take the responsibility to clear the title. I would not want to take that amount of risk for $5k. Another security is to make sure that your end buyer walks away with a title insurance policy.

5

Thanks again. Honestly Im working this as a wholesale deal. Already have a buyer lined up. I was given some advice on a lawyers forum that a possible way to do this as long as everyone is in agreement, and dont want to probate the property because the price is so low, would be to purchase from surviving owners, and heirs, then do a quiet title action. As long as I know with certainty that there are no liens etc, and there would be no opposition. What do you think of that advice?

I will tell you one thing, since Ive been researching so much on probate etc, which I knew really nothing about before, Im thinking I might try to market to them and see what happens.

6

Your post reminds me of a property I was trying to wholesale, a lady had died in a fire there from smoking in bed. I got the house under contract for 3K then found out it had back taxes up the yang, plus thousands of dollars in code violations and fines, old liens from family members now deseased. A neighbor lady called and screamed at me cuz an investor didnt nail up the plywood on the door securly.
I worked on this for several weeks, I even found a Title company that found a insurer that wud insure the policy against the dead relatives or heirs coming forth, but the sellers had horrible credit and the insurance company declined to issue a bond.
I finally gave up, felt good to walk away.
rando

7

Quiet title would be a good option. The key here is to make sure that there are no breaks in the title and that all the lose ends are securely tied in the end. It is not the purchase that is the problem but it could surface in the resale end. Since you are wholesaling the property, well, perhaps that liability is somewhat diminished. Just be absolutely sure there are not back liens.

Please keep us updated. I would be interested to find out how it all turns out.

8

Well, as of right now, since they are a couple of hours away, we are going to have me be the administrator. Everyones in agreement on that. The only thing in the 2 decedents estate will be the house. Should go fairly smooth and cheap. Ive looked at the deed back until the house was built, its been in the family since new. Only 2 changes in the deed, when the grandparents (original owners) left it to their heirs, and then those heirs quit claimed it to the four on title now. As for other liens idk, hopefully there are none when the seller does the title search, but Ive been assured there are none ( I know I know, buyers are liars, sellers are worse lol)

It was my idea to see if they would let me administer the estate, it cant be all that complicated with just the house in it, and Id like to just get it done, plus Im looking at it as a learning experience since Im marketing to more probates now. Im not sure how the inheritance tax etc works yet or when that gets paid etc but Im sure Ill find out. As soon as I open probate and get all the forms completed Ill start the closing process on the house, Im “hoping” Ill be able to open it, sell the house, then close it pretty quick.