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My neighbor is a very sweet elderly woman who recently went into assisted living. She owned a two-family Colonial home and sold it off to one of those we buy ugly houses con artists for only 380k. My husband and I tried telling her that even tho her house needed quite a bit of work, she could easily get double that if she went through a regular real estate agent. She explained that she just wanted to offload it as quickly as possible so she could move on. Well, a builder is now selling both sides for 1.5 million EACH. One side is already contingent after being on the market for only a few days and the other side was just listed last night. I am appalled. Yes, there is a ton of work that needs to be done to the house, but someone is making 3 million off of an elderly woman that he conned for only 380k. Do you guys feel like this is elder abuse? We definitely tried to explain to her that in this market she could have gotten double as it's a big house with a nice yard and in close proximity to downtown, but she had already made up her mind. My husband was saying that maybe she already had quite a bit of money saved for retirement already and just didn't want the stress of a home sale, but it still just doesn't sit right with me. The two listings are below. At the end of the day, greedy vultures $uck and this real estate market is nuts.
Sounds like she got what she wanted and has no desire to maximize her estate. Elder abuse might be a little extreme, but yes there are certainly lots of very expensive financial products that target the elderly like reverse mortgages, whole life insurance, etc when there are better alternatives available.
My sister has a friend whose father is being targeted by a developer, it started about 10 years ago. The father is in his 90's and still lives in the house. The developer comes by and offers to do small jobs on the property for free, hoping that the owner will sell the house him when he can no longer live in the house alone.
If the developer gets the house it will be a tear-down. My sister's friend lives in Pennsylvania now and there's not much she can do to stop this other than plead with her father. Her 2 older siblings don't care.
My sister has a friend whose father is being targeted by a developer, it started about 10 years ago. The father is in his 90's and still lives in the house. The developer comes by and offers to do small jobs on the property for free, hoping that the owner will sell the house him when he can no longer live in the house alone.
If the developer gets the house it will be a tear-down. My sister's friend lives in Pennsylvania now and there's not much she can do to stop this other than plead with her father. Her 2 older siblings don't care.
Oh no, that must be so upsetting to watch. Does your friend's friend think the developer with most likely low ball the father? Also, does the father see that the developer is just trying to go in for the kill? I can't stand those vulture types. They're greedy and disgusting human beings.
Is there a lot of land? I wonder if the developer is trying to get his greedy hands on it to build a development or just one home?
At the end of the day, we don't know all of the details. The property was assessed at $586K, so selling it for $380K does seem a little suspect. Nothing is ever as simple as it seems, however.
I know the developer, he's going to put about $1 million in renovations in to the project, and then there are permitting fees, legal fees, marketing and commission costs. No one "is making 3 million off of an elderly woman".
My neighbor is a very sweet elderly woman who recently went into assisted living. She owned a two-family Colonial home and sold it off to one of those we buy ugly houses con artists for only 380k. My husband and I tried telling her that even tho her house needed quite a bit of work, she could easily get double that if she went through a regular real estate agent. She explained that she just wanted to offload it as quickly as possible so she could move on. Well, a builder is now selling both sides for 1.5 million EACH. One side is already contingent after being on the market for only a few days and the other side was just listed last night. I am appalled. Yes, there is a ton of work that needs to be done to the house, but someone is making 3 million off of an elderly woman that he conned for only 380k. Do you guys feel like this is elder abuse? We definitely tried to explain to her that in this market she could have gotten double as it's a big house with a nice yard and in close proximity to downtown, but she had already made up her mind. My husband was saying that maybe she already had quite a bit of money saved for retirement already and just didn't want the stress of a home sale, but it still just doesn't sit right with me. The two listings are below. At the end of the day, greedy vultures $uck and this real estate market is nuts.
No. I think it's unscrupulous and maybe a little unethical to lowball to that extent, but unless the buyer did something to convince her that his offer was the best/only offer she could possibly get and/or she isn't of sound mind, it doesn't sound like elder abuse. Based on her interaction with you, it seems as if she was aware she could get more, but wanted to move fast. Not the best decision in my mind, but like you said, we don't know her complete financial picture.
I don't know that this would qualify as "elder abuse" but clearly this woman sold her property under market value. A big clue is that she sold it to "We Buy Ugly Houses" as those guys don't buy your house unless they can get it for a song and a dance in my experience.
This is what REALLY frustrates me with public perceptions about selling real estate. If anything, hiring the right agent is going to make your sale EASIER not harder. Plus even if you don't want to put your house on the open market, a good agent should have relationships with a number of developers and should be able to connect you with all of them so that you get the highest price possible. There are just so many homeowners who call one developer and take whatever price they're offered.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gf2020
At the end of the day, we don't know all of the details. The property was assessed at $586K, so selling it for $380K does seem a little suspect. Nothing is ever as simple as it seems, however.
I know the developer, he's going to put about $1 million in renovations in to the project, and then there are permitting fees, legal fees, marketing and commission costs. No one "is making 3 million off of an elderly woman".
He's not making $3M here but this person DEFINITELY sold their property for less than market value. If the developer is selling for $3M after putting in $1M and paying $400K for the property then they're putting a lot of money in their pocket even after commissions, legal fees, and carrying costs. Also, if they hired an agent they shouldn't be incurring any marketing expenses. Regardless, they're making a hefty profit off of this.
When selling a developable piece of property it's not just about what is the dirt worth but also it's about what is the opportunity worth? I advised someone a number of years about in selling a 10 ft wide section of their lot to a developer. To the owner, the tiny strip of land had little value. The developer buying it allowed them to subdivide the neighboring property which they had bought. So now they could build two houses instead of one. So, they were able to get hundreds of thousands for this tiny strip of land. Why? Because to this one party this tiny bit of dirt had a lot more value than it did to anyone else.
I don't know that this would qualify as "elder abuse" but clearly this woman sold her property under market value. A big clue is that she sold it to "We Buy Ugly Houses" as those guys don't buy your house unless they can get it for a song and a dance in my experience.
It wasn't actually sold to "We Buy Ugly Houses", I think Remy11 was just implying it was that type of transaction. The buyer is a pretty well known Southern NH realtor and auctioneer.
Further, I believe it is deeded as two separate 1/2 houses. I think each side sold for $380,000.
Oh no, that must be so upsetting to watch. Does your friend's friend think the developer with most likely low ball the father? Also, does the father see that the developer is just trying to go in for the kill? I can't stand those vulture types. They're greedy and disgusting human beings.
Is there a lot of land? I wonder if the developer is trying to get his greedy hands on it to build a development or just one home?
No, not a lot of land. The house is in Wellesley, on the street we grew up on so a quarter acre maybe. Decent backyard and good neighborhood. It's the smallest house on the street, so it will be torn down and a McMansion built there. Just what happened to the house next to it which was a little bigger. This is what is upsetting the daughter, not even the $ issue as much. Her father is a real science type (worked on NASA projects) but oblivious when it comes to real estate and human nature.
It wasn't actually sold to "We Buy Ugly Houses", I think Remy11 was just implying it was that type of transaction. The buyer is a pretty well known Southern NH realtor and auctioneer.
Further, I believe it is deeded as two separate 1/2 houses. I think each side sold for $380,000.
Gf2020,
Ohhhh—good call! Maybe the seller did get 380k for each side for a total of 760k. That would actually make me feel a whole lot better. And, yes, you’re right. It was a we buy ugly houses type of buyer, but not them specifically, I don’t think.
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