How To Acquire An Abandoned Home?
Hi, me and my fiance have been trying to purchase an abandoned home. We saw the home and thought that it might be an interesting challenge as well as not too expensive, considering that we currently cannot afford much morgage wise. :cry:
Anyways, we asked the town about who it belongs to, they gave us an address, and we have been trying to reach them ever since. :-? We can tell that the home isn't inhabited and has not been for at least 6 months. It is in pretty rough condition (however it does not look like its 'falling apart', just a lot of cosmetic issues, from an outside view)
So, What other things can we, or should we do? What else should we try? are there things we should watch out for? And is there anything we can possibly do if we cannot get in contact with the current owners?
Any help you can give us would be awesome!! thanks
The more you know, the better your chances.
Have you contacted the county either by phone or online to get info on the house? You can learn a lot from their records. And there are friendly helpful people at county records offices to guide you to make the most of the info.
How about a title company? They will give you info as an investor (since you might need their help in closing). I did a mortgage for a client in your state once and even though it's an attorney state, we used Stewart Title.
Look at the top of this page for the tab marked "Products" - there's a service called DeadLeads that could put you in touch with owner (or tell you if others have contacted them about that address).
Could it be bank owned? There is no redemption period on foreclosures in your state and some banks dont put a for sale sign out front. And if the bank is going thru reorganization/purchased by another bank - things fall thru cracks.
Have you checked with the Code Enforcement office of the county for any violations? Perhaps they walked away because it would cost a lot to pay all the fines (you as a buyer can negotiate these away).
Is it scheduled for demolition?
What is the zoning? That can create a problem in your state with getting financing.
Have you left a letter at the subject property and at the owner's house saying that you'd like to buy it? Use different envelopes, post cards, etc - don't stop with one.
Good luck.
First of all, thanks for replying! So far we have contacted the city hall of the city the home is in, they gave us the owner's address and not much else. You mention contacting the county, I know this may sound dumb, but are there offices for each county? and should I go through them instead of the city?
If you get to read this post again, I would appreciate any more info you can give 
THanks!!
As far as the rest of the information you told us to look for, we haven't gotten any of it, and honestly are so new at this that we wouldnt know where to look. Any advice on how we can find out if its bank owned? the title company? zoning? etc??
So far we have contacted the owner, both sending letters to the property and the address given to us (of which we kept getting back, so we used Intelius to get the owner's current address). However we haven't tried the different envelope thing though
If you will go to the county tax assessor office you can research the mailing address for tax purposes. You will need to do a property title search to nail down all the details.
You may be able to acquire the property by way of what is called adverse possession.
Adverse possession is the taking of title to real estate by possessing it for a certain period of time. Title means ownership of real estate. The person claiming title to real estate by adverse possession must have actual possession of it that is open, notorious, exclusive and adverse to the claims of other persons to the title.
In Maine, the duration of such possession is twenty (20) years. Maine T. 14, §801, 815.
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I have tried getting information through intelius and deadleads.
Thank YOU!
I have written a letter to the county assessors office of my county, and am awaiting a reply.
As far as the owners, I have tried to contact them via mail addresses listed through both intelius and deadleads, and have tried calling as well, and I have not gotten any sort of response, and the phone number is no longer a working number (and no listing is in the phonebook or 411 phone directory for them).
So, I was wondering if you think adverse possession would be something to explore, and if so, can you direct me to any webpages (or, if you wish, provide the info yourself in a post), about adverse possession, the procedures and legal stuff associated with it??
By the way, I sincerely appreciate the help you are giving me, me and my fiance are ecstatic that someones willing to lead us in our endeavor
I live in Virginia and there are too many abandoned homes in a nearby city. I picked one and went to the tax office where they gave me the info on the back taxes and let me know that there were no leins or mortgages on the property. I tried to locate the owner but had no luck. Shortly after that I went into the military, and when I came back a year later, someone was fixing up the property. It was told to me that a local historical society sold him the property if he promised to fix it in a certain amount of time.
Here's the question:
If I were living in that house in an attempt to obtain title through that adverserce possession law, would I be out of luck when the historical society sold it to that guy? When I checked into it, the house was still owned by the missing person for several years.
Now when I go to that town to look at abandond property, I'm told that the city owns it and has no intention of selling it. Have you ever heard of anything like that?
Just ask a title co. to do this research for you. They're cheap and efficient, plus they know where to go to find owner, his/her address, tax situation, liens, etc.
FYI, tax info on a property is in the county records if the property is NOT in an inc. city or town...if it IS in an inc. city or town, then it will be the city/town tax office you'll need to check with.
Try checking the records of the county the owner lived in to see if maybe he/she died or some such. Look for a will or probate.
As for the deadleads info - try writing or calling a neighbour. Better yet. Go visit a neighbour and see if they know any gossip as to why it is vacant.
BigWill2,
Adverse possession is a gamble that does not always pay off. If the owner sells it you have ni recourse.