# I Wanna Buy the House Next Door - Good Idea ? long



## rayjay (May 12, 2011)

Well, after 7 or 8 years the WT's next door have left. When we first moved here in 2000 the occupants were an older couple that seemed to be a normal older couple. After a few years they moved out and the actual owner [ the daughter of the older man ] and her umpteenth husband moved in. 

Basic WT,40 and 60 year old drug users, people in and out at all hours, cars parked on the yard, junk cars in the backyard, tall grass, grafitti painted on the back and side of the house. Then the woman got her 15ish daughter out of state supervision quickly followed by the daughter having a child from a man of hispanic ascent who moved in and added he added some gang graffitti to the house. He left a couple of years ago.

Occasionally strong chemical odors could be smelled when walking down to the mailbox [ our house is 250' off the street and theirs is 20']. Scary stuff but they mostly kept to themselves and there was no theft or other unacceptable incidents that would cause us to call the PD although there were several incidents of WT'ism that came darn close. We did invest in motion sensing lights and a driveway alarm.

Back to the current situation, the owner passed away last autumn. At the time the occupants were the owner's husband, her daughter and the child.  I regularly let the daughter use my cell phone after her mother died so I got to know a little about their situation. About a month ago they moved out.  I did speak with another daughter  [ estranged from the sister who lived in the house ] shortly after the occupants moved out who said that they hadn't paid the taxes and were 5 months behind on the $500 mortgage. 

A few days later I talked to the widower as he was there for a bit but mostly got no info. I did tell the estranged daughter that I was interested in buying the property and gave her my number but nothing has come of it.  

Anyway, should I try and buy this property if the price is doable ? It's a dump, built in 1960, 900 sq ft iirc and poorly maintained for the last 15 years. Supposedly the interior is trashed. It's on .94 acre . The selling price in 1998 was $72,000. It has a specialty septic system with pump that was just installed after the owner died [ probably $6000 ].

Other issues I have no experience with: The owner had no will and it's still in her name.  At least one of the daughters is trying to get posession of it from the widower. He may not be contesting.  So it's tied up in an estate mess.

It's also supposedly could be foreclosed on. Another complication.

Another thing. I am limited in how much I can do myself due to not expecting to get old when I was 20 something . The house would need a tremendous amount of work to be somewhat respectable. I won't be able to do it and paying to have it done is probably a deal killer. 

I do not want a residential rental property ! 

My fear is that some slum lord buys it and there is a steady stream of undesirables even worse than what was there before. Crime, theft, drug dealing, loud parties, snooping around, general troublemakers in other words.

How about buying it and razing the house ? Kinda depends on the selling price... Hate to lose a potential asset but.

My house will be paid for in July so I wouldn't have 2 house payments. We could pay cash if the price was right but I hate to impact our emergency fund and the 401's aren't even in the equation.

OK, give me some insight and opinions. Hope you enjoyed the soap opera 

Thanks
rj


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## sinclair1 (May 12, 2011)

I bought a property from a situation like that were there was some bad blood in the estate and it took a year to close. if the deal wasnt so good I would have walked. It would have to be 50% of the appraisal or less before I would.** edit I just noticed you said trashed, it would need to be 30% of appraisal unless I just wanted to do it to eliminate my homestead from WT. a good nights sleep has its value.


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## rayjay (May 12, 2011)

There is also the whole fi-fa,' auction on the courthouse steps' thing to consider although I am somewhat aware that you are not outright buying the property when going that route.

I think the mortgage holder is either an individual or a small real estate company.


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## win280 (May 12, 2011)

Find out who the mortage is with. Contact them and let them know you would be interested in the home.County records would be a big help there.
My brother bought a home from the mortage company 3 days before they were going to forclose on the property. The mortagee saved a bankrupty on their credit and the bank got therir money.
Don't know if this helps but it gives you another direction to think about.


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## rayjay (May 12, 2011)

Is this available online or do I need to go down to the courthouse or would they give out the info over the phone ?

thanks


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## WTM45 (May 12, 2011)

I'd beat them to the market, putting up my own "For Sale" sign and get out of there.
Might be easier for you to sell when no one is actually residing in the house next door if they vacate.

Once a property has been labeled (by LEO and undesirables) as a possible drug site it is pretty much doomed.   That graffiti means something.  Have a gang experienced LEO interpret pictures/video of it for you.


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## win280 (May 12, 2011)

rayjay said:


> Is this available online or do I need to go down to the courthouse or would they give out the info over the phone ?
> 
> thanks



We had to go to the courthouse,but that was several years ago.


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## rjcruiser (May 12, 2011)

Should be able to find it online.  It depends on the county.  Mine has them online.  Call your tax assessors office and ask...they're usually pretty friendly.

Based on what you said, doesn't sound like the property is worth more than the land.  It costs more to build/renovate than it does to buy already done.  If it goes into foreclosure, the bank will not want it.  Don't make your current situation worse buy overpaying for the place next door.

Just from the description...I wouldn't pay more than $15k cash for it.  If it is a bank held property, offer $10k and doze the place....adding more lot to your current residence.

Also, if they cooked meth in the house, you could be getting into a whole slew of health hazards if you don't doze the place.


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## win280 (May 12, 2011)

rjcruiser said:


> Based on what you said, doesn't sound like the property is worth more than the land.  It costs more to build/renovate than it does to buy already done.  If it goes into foreclosure, the bank will not want it.  Don't make your current situation worse buy overpaying for the place next door.
> 
> Just from the description...I wouldn't pay more than $15k cash for it.  If it is a bank held property, offer $10k and doze the place....adding more lot to your current residence.
> 
> Also, if they cooked meth in the house, you could be getting into a whole slew of health hazards if you don't doze the place.



Haz mat clean up is not cheap!!!!!


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## Wild Turkey (May 12, 2011)

How many acres do you have and are you planning on living in your house till you croak.
Who has legal control of the property?
If its a daughter etc. Find out payoff of mortgage.
if they are in default contact mort co and start dealing with them.
Could be a great deal because most mort co's are overloaded with repo property and dont want anymore on their books.
Keep the real estate agents away or they will steal it right out from under you for themselves.


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## merc123 (May 12, 2011)

If it was a meth house I wouldn't buy it unless you just want the land.  Too many issues.


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## stasher1 (May 12, 2011)

Unless you're in a position to pay cash, you may have a hard time getting financing right now, regardless of your credit. 

By brother-in-law recently lost his house in MA and is in the process of moving to FL to restart his life. My in-laws wanted to buy a house in their neighborhood for him to live in while he gets back on his feet. They were going to put 20% down and finance the remainder with my brother-in-law paying the monthly note. 

Even though my in-laws have the money to buy the house outright a few times over and perfect credit, the bank still turned them down. It was too close to their house to be considered a secondary residence or vacation home, so as far as the bank was concerned it was income property and with the current state of the economy they wouldn't approve the loan.


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## rayjay (May 12, 2011)

Well, I ponied up my $5 to the Georgia Supreme Court Clerks blah blah website and accessed the info [ eventually ] and contacted the note holder, who is 72 and a partner in a local property investment business with another person.  The lady is having some health issues and has a lot on her plate at the moment so this deal isn't really on the front burner.

Guess what ?  It's a really messed up situation Who woulda thunk it ?

Basically the mortgage holder is waiting to see if one of the family will make good on the note after they figure out how to take care of the estate where there was no will and they have no money [ other than for cigarettes, beer, caffiene cold beverages and drugs ]. Lawyers want their money.

Another thing. They just had that expensive septic system put in. I bet the money was borrowed [ somehow ] and there could end up with a lien on the property from that. I had thought that maybe the mortgage holder might have paid for it and put the cost on the back end of the mortgage but the lady said they weren't putting anymore money in it !!

Heck, I might be dead by the time they get this all resolved and I'll be buried with the money I saved !!

Anyway, I left my name and number with the lady and we will see what happens.

Thanks for the input.

ETA, also the county has done the fifa thing but the fifa hasn't been auctioned off to a 3rd party yet.


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## rayjay (May 12, 2011)

stasher1 said:


> Unless you're in a position to pay cash, you may have a hard time getting financing right now, regardless of your credit. .



Well, since my wife lost her job last year and I am a semi-retired landlord you are probably right.

I guess I could sell half of my guns to pay for the place and have somebody raze the house


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## rjcruiser (May 13, 2011)

rayjay said:


> Well, since my wife lost her job last year and I am a semi-retired landlord you are probably right.
> 
> I guess I could sell half of my guns to pay for the place and have somebody raze the house



Buy it..insure it for $$$$...then have a homeless squatter light it on fire 

j/k  Just enjoy the fact that no one will be moving in any time soon....I guess.


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## rayjay (May 13, 2011)

Wait and see mode. 

In contemplating the whole mess I don't know if a small 2 person, property investment biz is going to be willing or able to take a big loss like a bank would. From their point of view the 30 year mortgage is less than 1/2 paid and selling the property now for $10K or $15K might not be something they would do. They could just hold it for better times. Which suits me just fine


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## swamp hunter (May 14, 2011)

Just hope the Powers shut off. Be a Shame to have this fine place next door burn up.
Nothing to buy then, Just a piece of Land with tall Weeds.
I know the Feeling you got. Hopin the next Folks will be good. 
Ain,t gonna happen , but you can hope. You can also hope the Roof falls in , Or the County condemmes it.
How much is your piece of Mind worth?


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## rayjay (May 15, 2011)

Friday afternoon while the AC guy was here ripping me off I heard some hammering over in that direction and the next day when my wife came back from her walk she told me that water was running out of the utility room at the back of the carport. Hmm, stripping out the washing machine or stripping out the copper plumbing ?  

I'm just going to wait and see what develops. In looking at Gwinnett's current tax auction listing it looks like they don't auction off the fifa until the property is several years in arrears.


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## Miguel Cervantes (May 15, 2011)

rayjay said:


> I'm just going to wait and see what develops. In looking at Gwinnett's current tax auction listing it looks like they don't auction off the fifa until the property is several years in arrears.



After reading the entire thread to this point I'll throw my .02 in the pile. I read a post earlier where someone suggested you sell your place asap and cut your losses. I thought that was a really bad idea, until this last post of yours where I see you are in Gwinnett (foreign country) county. Even when / if the economy turns around houses will be slow to regain even a fraction of their lost value. The way Gwinnett has been trending the last 20 years, and I see no correction to this issue in sight, I would now tend to agree with that poster that you should cut your losses and run. Gwinnett will be 10 more years behind other counties on recoverable value losses, if then. 

Get what you can for your property and get out in the country where you know your meth dealers on a first name basis..


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## rayjay (May 15, 2011)

Give me a break. My house will be paid for in 2 MONTHS.  The house next door goes empty and I'm just supposed to sell a paid for house in probably the worst time to sell a house since 1930 ?  Living out in the country isn't any better than the suburbs when it comes to being invaded by lowlifes. 

I am VERY happy with my home, with the majority of my neighbors and with the area. Maybe in 10 or 15 years the area will have gone down enough for me to want to join my 3rd white flight but I will wait and see.


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## WTM45 (May 15, 2011)

Buying the property next door just increases your troubles, at a time when it sounds like you are happily finishing up your own personal mortgage and losing one burden.  Don't take on another burden unless you are 100% certain it is what you wish to get involved in.  And you have to be "all in" to be successful!

Best of luck in whatever you choose!  And congrats for completing that mortgage on your primary residence!


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## rayjay (May 16, 2011)

Re: your original post. In today's economic reality I don't look at my primary residence as an investment the way our 401's are an investment.  We didn't buy it to flip and try to turn a big profit, we bought it to hopefully live in for the rest of our lives.  I hope we get to do this without the area around us getting so bad that we feel compelled to move. It could happen though. Or the area may actually improve. Hard to forsee the future.

Good luck


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## tad1 (May 16, 2011)

RJ I won't pretend to have much experience in this arena but I say it depends on a few things but the ONE in particular would be PRICE!  If u can get it for a song go for it. Especially since ur house is bout paid and u like most of ur neighbors.  Keep us posted n gOod luck!


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## Bamafan4life (May 16, 2011)

Ah how I can't wait for my neighbor who has 38 acres with no road frontage(I have  all that) to leave. I don't think there doing drugs or nuthing just do a lot of stupid things. I plan to buy this if the times right(hopefully about 5 years from now) I havnt seen there house but I don't think its nuthing to nice there kind of poor. Well anyways I don't know what you plan to do with the house ur going to buy. I wouldn't rent it out ethier to much responsibility. Keep the yard mowed paint the outside and make it look acceptable invest in a gate for it and keep it locked.  Invest in a fire alarm u can here from ur house. And it will be a good project for u in ur retirement. In this economy my cousin found a guy who maintaines his 50 acres animals and all that just for letting him live there. Its a good idea to have extra property if you can afford it. Look at ur friend and relatives. This economy is rough many of them may loose there homes and jobs and need a place to stay and ull be able to rent it to someone u know well and don't have a problem with


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## Bamafan4life (May 16, 2011)

Also do not take a loan out against ur current property. I know many who have done this even my dad in his 5000 sq foot house we lived in when I was young did this and lost it


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