Abandoned Properties: a New Opportunity 954 247 1353 SellFloridaHouseNow.com Sunrise FL Weston FL Davie FL

The collapsing real estate market is creating some exciting new opportunities in real estate for savvy investors not afraid to capitalize on a new opportunity. When real estate was hot and the market was rising, and interest rates were stable, millions of Americans opted to roll the dice on adjustable-rate mortgages. Now the market has tanked, and so many have lost their bet, rates are resetting and hundreds of thousands of mortgages are in jeopardy. A lot of these property owners have become subprime risks, and as a result are unable to refinance. Facing payments they can't make, some are simply walking away from their properties. This is bad for the homeowner, but for investors it's an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. When I mention the phrase "walking away from their property", I literally mean homeowners are abandoning their property. When abandoned property is mentioned, the mental image that comes to mind is typically a dump somewhere in the ghetto, with boarded up windows, and junk strewn about the yard. This is a classic example of an abandoned property, but it's also somewhat antiquated. In 2007, an abandoned property can be a half million dollar home in a very good neighborhood. If the owners can't make payments, rather than face the indignity or the embarrassment of foreclosure, many of them pack their belongings into a U-Haul truck and drive away hoping to avoid the problem altogether. The home owner then mails the keys to the bank. Banks call this "Jingle Mail". As a savvy real estate investor, you can cash in on this opportunity by locating a well-qualified abandoned property, tracking down the owner, and convincing them to sell to you. It's not as difficult as it seems. The best place to locate abandoned property that might fit your investment criteria is in middle or upper middle class neighborhoods. Good signs of abandonment are properties that are obviously vacant, as well as overgrown with weeds or covered with unshoveled snow. These properties may have newspapers piled up on the porch, and may be showing some signs of distress. If you simply drive your target neighborhoods you'll locate possible abandoned properties. You won't know for sure it's been abandoned until you investigate the property a little more closely. A good place to start is with the next-door neighbor. When you approach the neighbor, be certain to point out that you're a real estate investor and that you're possibly interested in purchasing the property. A little questioning at this point will tell you whether the property might be worth your time, as well as your effort, in tracking down the owner and trying to purchase it. While there are a rising number of abandoned properties, it can sometimes be a bit of a challenge locating the owner. These properties lend themselves very well toward creative financing techniques because the owners are extremely distressed from a financial standpoint. In situations where the owner has simply walked away from the property, monthly mortgage payments are coming due like clockwork on the first of every month, and whether they're aware of it or not, the owner is still on the hook. In addition, property taxes and insurance premiums still have to be paid. Long story short, this property is a major headache for the owner. If the owners aren't making their payments, eventually the bank is going to foreclose on the property, and take it back as an REO. If this happens, a major headache for the property owner becomes an Excedrin headache for the bank. Your greatest potential for large profits is before the bank forecloses, so you want to reach the owner before the bank does. Last month I told you about the opportunity abandoned property can represent as a new investment strategy. Knowing that these properties exist is only half the battle, especially if you don't have a clue as to how to go about locating the owner. While the owner's can sometimes be difficult to locate, if you're willing to put on a detective's hat, you can usually locate them fairly easily. Once you have located your target property, take a walk around the yard and look for any clues that may have been left behind by the owner. Many times the yard will become overgrown and you may discover a for-sale sign lying in the yard with a telephone number on it. You might also look in the window next to the front door for legal notices. Another strategy you can use is to speak with the next-door neighbor. Explain to them that you are a real estate investor that is possibly interested in purchasing the property. Ask if they happen to know how you might be able to go about getting hold of the owner. If you have a business card, give it to them, because this can build credibility for you. They may not know how to reach the owner of the property, but a lot of them know much more than they're willing to tell you. By leaving your card you give them a means of reaching you at some point in the future if they discover the whereabouts of the owner, or later learn how to reach them. In addition, if they do know where the owner is, they may not want to tell you for fear of violating a friend's trust. If they have your card, they have ample opportunity to contact the owner of the abandoned property to let them know that someone is trying to reach them. You may wonder why a neighbor might be secretive about the actual location of the owner. It's really simple: if the owner has walked away from their property, they know that the bank will eventually be trying to reach them. Furthermore, they may be experiencing other financial difficulties as well. If this is the case, the neighbor may just be trying to protect them from bill collectors or process servers. In any event, by leaving your card you do make it available for the owner to reach you. If your efforts to reach of the owner through the next-door neighbor or other nearby neighbors don't yield results, you can always venture a trip to the county courthouse for a manual records search. This can be somewhat time-consuming, but when you're done, you will have the name of the owner. With this information in hand there are a couple of other strategies you could implement. The first is to go online to www.reversephonedirectory.com and fill in the information that you do know. It'll cost you a few dollars, but it may very quickly yield results in the form of a telephone number you can use to contact the owner of the abandoned property. If that resource fails to pay dividends, there are other resources online as well. A simple Google search may tell you what you need to know. Another way you can try to reach the owner of the abandoned property is by putting the power of the US Postal Service to work for you. Simply address an envelope to the owner of the abandoned property and mark the front of the envelope "Address Correction Requested". Once you've ensured that you've put your return address on the envelope, mail it. When the Postal Service sees that you're requesting an address correction, they'll send you a postcard with the owner's updated address if they have one on file. These strategies aren't guaranteed to locate the owner of every abandoned property, but they'll usually yield results more than 90% of the time. Once you locate the owner and make contact with them, you can present a creative offer that will not only solve the owner's problem, but will help you to expand the size of your own real estate empire. You can utilize traditional or creative investment strategies at this point. Because the owner has his back against a wall, he's usually willing to entertain any idea that will solve his problem, especially if you can help his problem go away with minimal pain.. Writtten by Copyright (c) 2008 Michel Lautensack If you need to sell your vacant empty abandoned property call 954 247 1353 or click here