Before buying abandoned property, learning everything you can about it is important. This includes contacting the property owners, conducting a home inspection and weighing the property’s pros and cons. Then, if you’re ready to purchase it, making an offer and obtaining financing is the final step in buying a house. It might feel overwhelming or even scary to find abandoned real estate to buy, but the process isn’t much different than looking for any other property. To find available abandoned real estate, you’ll use many of the same methods to buy regular property. For example, you could work with a real estate agent or do the research yourself. You’ll need to scour the area you want to buy a house and look for abandoned homes or other vacant properties. You may recognize them from their rundown appearance, or you may be lucky enough to find foreclosure or auction listings in the local paper. Sometimes, abandoned properties are still owned by the original property owner, but they haven’t done anything with the property. So the key to buying abandoned property is to get in touch with the property owners to determine your next steps.1.Find Available Abandoned Real Estate
2.Contact The Property Owner
This will take some legwork on your part, so prepare yourself. You can start by asking the county clerk for the tax records. This will provide you with the property owners’ names. You can then try to locate their contact information online.
If the property owners aren’t listed, you can visit the property and leave a note or business card in the mailbox or on the door. You might not be the only buyer interested, so always follow up if you can. Also, since the property is abandoned, the owners may not come around often, so it could be a while before you hear anything.
Finally, you can ask the county clerk if the home will go to tax auction soon. If there are unpaid back taxes, chances are it will, making it much easier for you to buy an abandoned property. Just make sure you know the required terms, including the cost and how much money you need upfront to win the auction.
3.Conduct A Home Inspection
If the property isn’t part of a real estate auction, you may be able to pay for a professional home inspection before purchasing it. This step is important because the home’s condition can alter your plans if it needs more work than you can afford.
If you’re buying the home at auction and the bank or county isn’t allowing inspections, consider bringing a professional inspector with you to the auction so they can give you a feel for what they think of the property, even from the outside.
If you can inspect the property, figure out what home maintenance and repairs are necessary to make the home livable. Depending on the type of financing you get, you may have to do the work before you close on the property, and it can affect your finances, so pay close attention to the report.
4.Weigh The Pros And Cons
Even though abandoned properties may cost less, they may not be worth it in the end. Therefore, it’s important to weigh the property’s pros and cons, considering the home’s condition, the work it needs and the cost.
If you have to put too much work into the home to make it livable or to increase its value, it might not be worth it. So first, look at the property values of other homes around it to determine if you’d be investing more than the home might be worth when you’re done.
5.Purchase The Abandoned Property
You’ll likely need financing when you decide to purchase an abandoned property. Before you commit to buying the property, determine your timeline. For example, if you’re buying an abandoned home from an auction, you may need the financing upfront to close quickly. But, if you’re buying it from the owners directly, you may have more time to work out financing details.
Since the home is already abandoned, the current homeowners likely aren’t in a big hurry to close the sale.
It’s best to get preapproved for a mortgage before looking at abandoned homes so you know how much you can spend and what the lender requires. After you’re preapproved and find a home, the lender will order the appraisal and title work on the property to ensure it’s worth enough money (or will be after your renovations) and there aren’t any liens, such as back taxes on it.
