What is the incentive to owning abandoned properties?

[raider.adam]

My next door neighbor has been certified for sheriff's sale. The lien for the adjacent property is held by Linebarger. I went to their offices but the person I needed to deal with according to the secretary wasn't there so I'll need to call him. The one adjacent to that is owned by the city, so I guess I would need to make a gentle inquiry to Jannie Blackwell's office to see if there are any plans for it.

The Linebarger property you will likely have to go to Blackwell about too.

[StrangeTanks]

If its going to sheriffs sale you can go buy it. No need to contact Linbarger

[daveydoo]

If its going to sheriffs sale you can go buy it. No need to contact Linbarger

I really don't want to buy any of them. That one in particular needs new roof joists and a new porch.

[daveydoo]

The Linebarger property you will likely have to go to Blackwell about too.

So they have to go through council but the city liens can just be certified?

[raider.adam]

So they have to go through council but the city liens can just be certified?

I'm not sure what you are asking.

[StrangeTanks]

I think I understand what Davey is asking now.

He has a problem property coming up for sheriff's sale and wants someone else to solve his problems and wants to know who he can contact to make them invest in it.

Well...could go many ways in my opinion. If no one bids on it, it will either not sell and the current owner will remain the current owner. Or a city agency will become the new owner in which case you have even less chance of having something happen.

An investor could buy it. In which case it could become a nice rehab, or it could become a crappy even bigger problem.

Or an owner occupant could buy it, in which case you might gain a nice new neighbor.

Theres not much you can do however to guide the process in a direction you want.

[daveydoo]

I'm not sure what you are asking.

I guess I'm asking whether council has some connection with this firm. Why would I have to go through Blackwell's office?

[daveydoo]

I think I understand what Davey is asking now.

He has a problem property coming up for sheriff's sale and wants someone else to solve his problems and wants to know who he can contact to make them invest in it.

Well...could go many ways in my opinion. If no one bids on it, it will either not sell and the current owner will remain the current owner. Or a city agency will become the new owner in which case you have even less chance of having something happen.

An investor could buy it. In which case it could become a nice rehab, or it could become a crappy even bigger problem.

Or an owner occupant could buy it, in which case you might gain a nice new neighbor.

Theres not much you can do however to guide the process in a direction you want.

I realize that the process is out of my hands. This will certainly not "solve" my problems. I clean the sidewalks of the adjacent properties and shovel the snow. And I will continue to do so probably for a long time to come. Not looking for sympathy here as those properties were there when I bought the place. I figure best case scenario is a nice rehab and worse case is a rehab that comes with Section 8 tenants from hell. In between is status quo.

[BTC]

If any of you on this thread are actively participating in sheriff sales these days, I would love a chance to talk to you about it. I find the whole process fascinating and I have been tracking sheriff sale listings since 2008. Ideally, I would love to learn from someone who has been practicing the buy-and-hold strategy, with a specific focus on renting the properties out after they have been rehabbed. I have attended a few sheriff sales in the past and I would appreciate the chance to learn a few things from an experienced purchaser. Please send me a direct message if you feel like you could use an apprentice, or you just want to pass along some knowledge to an appreciative ear. I have stripped my own row home in Roxborough down to the studs and built it back up again, so I have no fear of getting my hands dirty.

[thesomersteam]

BTC - The other thing to remember is that in this market there are plenty of opportunities besides sherrif sales. I personally have one property on the market right now I purchased as a bank foreclosure and 2 others that will be going on the market that were purchased from private owners. My last investment property acquired was also from the MLS. As an investor, it is important to keep an eye open for all the properties, not just Sheriff Sales.

On a side note, it is critical like others on this thread have said, that the City accelerate the Sheriff Sale process, otherwise those behind on their real estate taxes have zero incentive to catch up. ~ Chris

TheSomersTeamBlog

[NEMESIS]

I have a quick question for all of you that are familiar with the Sheriff's sale process. In the newspaper listings there always a $ amount following the property info that represents the debt on the property. If I were to buy a property at Sheriff's sale would I be responsible for paying off this debt as well or is the property free and clear with the winning bid?

[seand]

I realize that the process is out of my hands. This will certainly not "solve" my problems. I clean the sidewalks of the adjacent properties and shovel the snow. And I will continue to do so probably for a long time to come. Not looking for sympathy here as those properties were there when I bought the place. I figure best case scenario is a nice rehab and worse case is a rehab that comes with Section 8 tenants from hell. In between is status quo.

I know its a ton of work but you could always buy it yourself, fix it and become a landlord. That way you have control over who the tenants next door is. And you directly benefit on your house being worth more and the neighborhood improving. There are a lot of advantages to being a landlord for the place next door, every maintenance project is the same, you can save on supplies and you will have rental income. Neighbors on my block did that and for some reason felt like they had to justify buying their connected twin but only because they wanted to control who their neighbor was, I told them "Whats wrong with being a landlord? We need responsible landlords too. Why not improve the neighborhood why building up a little equity you can pass on to your kids?" I don't get why some people act like there is shame in being a landlord.

Generally if you would live there, you can find someone who would rent in the same neighborhood for enough for you to make a small profit over the long haul. If the neighborhood improves you could find your rental paying for itself and all annual expenses and upkeep for your house as well. And you build equity.

[thesomersteam]

I like the way "seand" thinks.

The more responsible landlords there are, the better the community. I take a lot of pride in provding quality housing to my tenants and improving the community where I own my properties. And I know many other property owners who share the same pride. And just as "seand" mentioned, when a property(bank owned) went up for sale next door to a property I owned in Old Kensington, I bought it as I was concerned that someone else would buy it and not do a good job with it. Now that property is fully rehabbed and a homewoner should be buying it, again improving the community.

And for those interested in investing, rents are inflated and sky high as folks are scared to purchase. In some areas, rents far exceed what a mortgage payment would be so it is nice to know that the demand for your investment property will be through the roof.

~ Chris

TheSomersTeamBlog

[daveydoo]

I know its a ton of work but you could always buy it yourself, fix it and become a landlord. That way you have control over who the tenants next door is. And you directly benefit on your house being worth more and the neighborhood improving. There are a lot of advantages to being a landlord for the place next door, every maintenance project is the same, you can save on supplies and you will have rental income. Neighbors on my block did that and for some reason felt like they had to justify buying their connected twin but only because they wanted to control who their neighbor was, I told them "Whats wrong with being a landlord? We need responsible landlords too. Why not improve the neighborhood why building up a little equity you can pass on to your kids?" I don't get why some people act like there is shame in being a landlord.

Generally if you would live there, you can find someone who would rent in the same neighborhood for enough for you to make a small profit over the long haul. If the neighborhood improves you could find your rental paying for itself and all annual expenses and upkeep for your house as well. And you build equity.

I like the way you think as well. I know my neighborhood will be back someday and these properties will be worth something. Unfortunately my financial hands are full at the moment. But across the street there are two additional properties adjacent to each other that are way behind on their taxes so there's no shortage of opportunities on my block.

[thesomersteam]

Daveydoo - Hopefully those properties will go on the market soon. I was talking to Councilman Mark Squila today at the NLBOA business meeting about the City really needing to enforce a much stricter time frame for property owners who fall behind on their taxes - either go on a payment plan with the City or those properties need to go up for tax sales or sheriff sales much sooner. At the same time, chances are the water liens and pgw liens are piling up as well while the property is detoriating and squatters are entering. Either way, when you do see them go on the market, email me at csomers@remax.net if I do not see them first.

~ Chris
TheSomersTeamBlog

[daveydoo]

1526 S. Wilton St. will be up for auction on September 19th @ 10 AM at 3801 Market St. Opening bid is $10K. House is 1,060 sq. ft. Lot is 15' x 55'. The two biggest issues that I'm aware of are the very tall tree in the back yard which PECO de-branched last year and the branches are almost back to their origional size. But that's not too difficult because it's at least within the property owner's control. The biggest problem is that 1524 S. Wilton had a fire a while back and the roof is not intact. The porch roof is also disintegrating and as a result the 1526 porch roof is sagging on that side. Leinbarger has the lien. So with that in mind if someone is interested in acquiring 1526 they should probably be prepared to make a case for developing 1524 as well in order to somehow send it to auction. Last time I checked the back taxes on 1524 are north of $6K so I imagine the city would probably want somewhere between $10-15K for that one. Anyone who may want to know about the neighborhood can explore my previous posts. I don't tend to sugarcoat things.

[daveydoo]

House sold for $9K. The guy who bought it bought 3 or 4 other properties and bid on numerous others. His ceiling on most of them seemed to be $10K or so. I won't get my hopes up that he'll actually do anything other than sit on it. The randomness of his bidding on these various properties seemed to point to this strategy. So it will be interesting to see if he gives the city the balance 30 days hence or if he thought he took on too much and has second thoughts. In the meantime I get to call an assistant city solicitor who was at the auction and gave me her card because she was unsure of the procedure I had to go through to get my $800 back. She looked puzzled that I would put up the money without the intention of purchasing the property. I'll consider that "thank you" for doing the city's job for it.