Buying Inherited Properties Can Help Heirs Move On More Quickly
It will probably seem to some that buying properties inherited on someone’s demise is taking advantage of sacrificing humans. Let me cause the death of this myth right now (pun intended). Every property bought from heirs solves major problems for those heirs. Remember nobody HAS to sell a property. It takes a seller to have a buyer. These particular sellers have very unique problems to solve. In what other area of live do you automatically become liable for a property, its mortgage, its taxes, its upkeep and related expenses except through inheriting? None. These problems are very unique to heirs with sudden property ownership.
Some of the unique problems that heirs who inherited a house and other personal property have to contend with are:
-that next mortgage payment
-the next school tax bill
-the next county tax bill
-the next state property tax bill
-the ever deteriorating roof and the huge expense for its replacement
-the trash bill, the water bill, the gas bill
-the oil bill
-propane bill
-the electric bill
-the car payments
-getting rid of all that junk stored in the house for last umpteen years.
-cleaning the house and garage out of all the accumulate trash
-who gets what items that were not spelled out in the will
I tell you, having been an Executor myself, these are very real problems are each in need of a FAST solution.
Many who inherit homes are renters themselves, by choice. No all people rent because they can not buy. Many choose to not have the responsibility of major expenses that are ever increasing. New Roofs are inevitable. Property taxes increases are a fact of home ownership. But renters are just a part of the story. In the interest of keeping this short, suffice to say that most inherited homes are unwanted. In fact, the heirs would much rather have the cash that the house and personal items represent. Are you beginning to understand why a service that buys inherited homes may be a very good service for many who inherited property?
I remember one property where Bill died and the house was left to his daughter, Sue. He lived in the house until he died but he was very ill during the last few years. He had taken out a new mortgage shortly before he got sick to do some general updating and fix-ups and then all of a sudden he got sick. His insurance did not cover all of his expenses so he was paying bills with the cash from the home equity mortgage. The house, in Orange County CA, deteriorated from lack of maintenance over the last couple years before Bill’s passing and his daughter just got the call that he passed on. She did not even know he was sick, nor that she had to come up with the next mortgage payments of a few hundred dollars (that she did not have). To make matters worse, she lived in Texas. She was frantic after the funeral to find out all the she had to do as the only living heir to her father. Her duties as the personal representative (Executrix) was to dispose of his estate in any way she wanted. Well she did not want to live in the house. Her job and everything she held dear was in Texas with her and she did not want to go to CA to do anything.
To make this long story short, she received my letter in the mail from a direct mail campaign I associated that was sent to people who were formally appointed by the state of CA to be the personal representative for an estate. However, it was not a condolences letter like all the rest of her mail was laately. My letter was only a marketing piece that told her that if she had a property for sale that would be interested in buying it in as little as 30 days. It further explained that the house did not need to be in good condition, did not have to be cleaned out nor did anything have to be repaired; in other words, I would by it “as-is” and in any condition and in any area of the county. My letter said nothing about the death or condolences nor did it remind her of the death when she read it.
I offered her a fair price for the house, all of the personal property inside and I promised to clean it all out for her so she did not have to do anything whatever. She made one trip to the house to get some personal mementos and that’s it. We came to an agreement over the phone and we closed in 30 days and she never had to make a payment of any kind to anyone. I was her savior for all those problems.
My hope is that sharing this information will help the negative stigma on investors who buy inherited homes. Providing this service to heirs makes me proud to be a real estate investor.
