Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Okay, so there's this beautiful old Queen Anne (Victorian) that's been abandoned for years. It's gorgeous and I'd love to find a way to buy it...However, I can't find the former owners, or even the bank (I'm assuming it's foreclosed on). Is there any way that I can buy a "Zombie" property?
Okay, so there's this beautiful old Queen Anne (Victorian) that's been abandoned for years. It's gorgeous and I'd love to find a way to buy it...However, I can't find the former owners, or even the bank (I'm assuming it's foreclosed on). Is there any way that I can buy a "Zombie" property?
Move in, and wait until the owners show up to find YOU!
Who is listed as owner on official government land records? Are they the same as the tax billing? If the taxes are not being paid, in time it will go up for a tax auction and you and 1,000 other interested people and investors can bid on it.
Okay, so there's this beautiful old Queen Anne (Victorian) that's been abandoned for years. It's gorgeous and I'd love to find a way to buy it...However, I can't find the former owners, or even the bank (I'm assuming it's foreclosed on). Is there any way that I can buy a "Zombie" property?
Just move in, it's called adverse possession.
The worst that can happen is that you'll find out who owns it.
If it were me I'd hire an attorney (just to save the headache) and have them contact the tax assessors office for your area, and have then research records. If you want, google the address, maybe you'll get lucky
Okay, so there's this beautiful old Queen Anne (Victorian) that's been abandoned for years. It's gorgeous and I'd love to find a way to buy it...However, I can't find the former owners, or even the bank (I'm assuming it's foreclosed on). Is there any way that I can buy a "Zombie" property?
Public records can be found online. For mine I just google the county name and property tax appraisal and it's a dot org. My local site has more info than many including the layout/footprint of the property, sale prices, permits, taxes and a photo from when it was last purchased. One area says the owner and owners address if it's different from the property address and it can be a po box.
Okay, so there's this beautiful old Queen Anne (Victorian) that's been abandoned for years. It's gorgeous and I'd love to find a way to buy it...However, I can't find the former owners, or even the bank (I'm assuming it's foreclosed on). Is there any way that I can buy a "Zombie" property?
Are you made of money? A Victorian house that has been abandoned for years is probably in terrible shape. You no doubt have "critters" (vermin), bad plumbing, bad wiring, and probably a leaky roof.
It isn't that the house can't be restored; it just will take a lot of work to do so. If you can do most of it yourself, great! If you have to hire people, it's going to cost big bucks.
My former in-laws restored a 1900s farmhouse. It turned out beautifully, but it was quite the project. Theirs had had chickens living in it. Ironically, it stands empty again. But that's another story.
They usually list the tax history for properties at the county assessor's office's web site. If the taxes haven't been paid, you can contact the owner to make an offer to buy the property and pay the taxes. In that way, you don't wait for the property to be publicly available when the county sells the tax certificate. We ended up being on the seller's end of land down in Florida that my parents stopped paying tax on. As it turned out, it was in the midst of the bubble and we sold it for 3x what is was valued 2 years earlier. The prices for similar lots skyrocketed as much 10x and now are selling below where we sold it.
This is a task for a private detective. Most likely you will find it is an estate situation and then you will need a knowledgeable attorney. Good luck! It won't be easy but if it were, someone else would have purchased it already. Just be mentally prepared that the money you spend might lead to a dead end.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
