Where to go from here?

[Dons]

There is a house I pass while driving to and from work that has been vacant for about 6 weeks...the place is a mess, and the lawn (weeds) are two feet tall.

I just checked the county auditor's site and found the house went to sheriff's sale...no one bought it so, of course it's now a REO. The owning bank is 3,000 miles from here. I'm sure they would love to have it off their books.

What is the best way to approach the owning bank? There is no phone number given and I can't find a number for their West Coast office online.

Yes, I can write to them. So what is the approach?

Thanks

Don

[txrigdiver]

Was it a mortgage or tax sheriff's sale? The answer makes all the difference in the world, so does the state you live in... For arguments sake lets say you live in Texas.

If it was indeed a mortgage foreclosure sheriff's sale then get written estimates from licensed contractors, take a bunch of photos and have your realtor write up an offer/sales contract and fax all of this stuff including a copy of your earnest money check made out to the bank to the person at the bank who is handling this property. That's how I would do it but I'm not even close to being a pro so I hope you get some more suggestions.
I do know a thing or two about tax sales though.
In a state like Texas, which is a deed state not a lien state, and lets say it went to auction because of a delinquent tax lawsuit sale and no one bought it. Then it becomes a "struck off" property. This means that the property is basically deeded back to the taxing authority that brought the tax suit, the original Plaintiff, not anyone joining the suit. It also means that all liens other then an IRS lien has been wiped off. If there is an IRS lien they have 90 days to begin foreclosure, if they haven't started by then their lien is administratively wiped. You can also contact them and let them know what has happened, tell them you want to purchase the property from the Govt and ask them to remove their lien and they most likely will. It gets better. Depending on what county you lived in you could go right to the taxing authority and make them a direct offer, usually for less then what the opening bid was since all they want is the money due them and they really aren't worried about any of the other plaintiffs who joined the suit. All counties in the state of Texas are by law allowed to accept offers to sell struck off properties this way. Sadly many taxing authorities require the property be re-listed for sale by auction rather then selling them over the counter and this decision is left to the individual taxing authority who is typically operating under the direction of a lawyer who won't make any more money on the deal if its sold over the counter. Similar to a bank, A taxing authority can't benefit from even tax exempt real estate, (they sure aren't about to become land lords) they want cash to pay their bills and employees so they want to sell the property. Wait it gets even better. Once the taxing authority who was deeded this property back holds the property for the redemption period which will be either 6 months or 2 years, depending on exemptions, and you make an over the counter offer to purchase the property you will be able to get immediate clear title, even if you have to request the property be re-auctioned off which typically you have to fill out some paperwork for this request, pay a $50.00 processing fee and you have to agree to, at the minimum, opening the bidding at your offered price. now that it's at an open out cry point anyone who wins the bidding will be able to get clear title immediately. Typically if you are the winner of a tax deed auction on a non-struck off property you will have to wait a minimum of 100% the redemption period after the redemption period expires to get clear title and I know of only one title company in the entire state that will insure these properties that fast. Most other title companies want a minimum of 2 years on a property without an exemption which would be a 6 month redemption property. And 4 to 6 years for properties with any kind of exemption, agricultural, over 65, illness and the most common exemption which is a homestead. During a 6 month redemption period in the state of Texas, the previous owner has to pay the amount equal to the winning bid plus any costs and then a 25% penalty if they want to redeem their property. On properties within a 2 year redemption period the previous owner can redeem for a 25% premium in the first year and then a 50% premium in the second year. Redemption's are very rare and I've only seen them done by the mortgage company who entirely by the letter of the law isn't even authorized to redeem properties and have no claim the moment after the sale on these properties unless the deed is in their name.
I didn't get into all the details here surrounding every nuance of the process but can if you want or need that much detail. I didn't talk about quit claim deeds, or warranty deeds after the sale, I didn't talk about excess proceeds and how to get those or even quiet title to cure cloudy titles. I didn't cover the difference in taxing authorities from school districts to utility districts or home owners associations. Then there's always the right of possession and eviction procedures not to mention making sure all other joined lien holders receive their funds from the sale and how to get the remaining taxes due on the property waived. Lets say the suit was brought in 2000 and it's just now going to the auction block, proceeds from the tax sale will go to cover taxes up to the year of the suit for all lien holders who joined but taxes from the period of the suit, in this example the year 2000 until the present become owed by the winner of the tax sale.

[Dons]

Thank you. You've given me something to go on...actually a lot to go on.

BTW it is a true junker...an older house in a newer neighborhood, but could be made nice. It's worth doing a bit more snooping.

[txrigdiver]

I'd rather have the worst house in the best neighborhood then the best house in a bad neighborhood.

One of my favorite sayiungs I thing Steven King came up with it,
I'd rather have a bottle in front of me then frontal labotomy