Seller wants Privacy

You would need a video or lots of pictures for your buyer

End of the day , buyer would need to do 'walk through' and want inspection

Good Luck - keep us posted

Sellers wanting to be left alone during the selling process is normal. But a seller expecting you to do all the work, pay all the fees, and sell their house to someone not allowed to walkthrough it first? IS SUSPICIOUS at best. Behind on property taxes? Are their any other liens on the property? This person could very well be looking to duck out on someone (or something) without a trace. It could be completely innocent and have nothing to do with you, OR it could be some kind of fraud and they need you as a "patsy."

Not trying to sound negative Mark, but just based on what you told us, this could become sticky quickly. Make sure you do all your due diligence, and then do it all again. You may find something about this seller that is nowhere near kosher, or even worse, something about the property. Hope everything works out for you. Best of luck...

NEXT!

Seller is not motivated enough.

instead of getting an appraisal, why don't you go to the house with your handyman (instead of the appraiser)... I think that if you get an appraisal done, it will be more difficult for you to negotiate a price with the seller, since he will ask to see the appraisal?

take a video, and then create a youtube link on your proforma sheet with all the estimates, rehab needed, sale price... this is all you would need to show your buyers, until one is ready to put down a deposit, then you can insist on the seller giving you access for the buyer...

good luck!

Thank you everybody for your input.

We'll see exactly how motivated this seller is when I ask to allow buyers to walk through or they can sell the house on their own.

Mark, something doesn't sound right. Have you checked to make sure the individual is the owner of the property?
Raymond

Yes they are, owned it since 9/18/2003. It shows up on the tax assessors site and the county's parcel history database. He paid 2011 county taxes but not 2012's which were due by Feb 10, 2012 for $5163.69
2012 school taxes were due 10/7/2011 and those remain unpaid at $3065.45
His phone # (from caller ID) is registered at that address under his name also.

If he agrees to buyers inspections, I'll find out when I do my title check and walk through what he's possibly hiding.

I know I would at least walk-thru it if I was that end buyer,I wouldnt buy it just off of pics.
Good Luck, this one may be to much of a hassle.Just my thoughts.

Take care

Curtis Fillers
(Charlotte,NC)

Could just be a simple case of a person that does not want to be bothered by a bunch of people coming through his house. You will have to explain that people don't buy with out looking. Would he buy a house sight unseen?? Let him know you will give 24 hour notice of a showing. No lookie, no buyie!
Also,you do not need an appraisal. Just determine what ARV is by running comps sold in the last 90 days, currently listed comps and under contract comps.
Then determine the rehab/remodel needed to bring that ARV. Then you will have the two figures you need to make the offer.
What he owes is just part of the buy price. You did not list any numbers so there is no way to determine whether you should walk or not. This COULD be a deal on not!
What is your plan? Put the property under contract and assign to a cash buyer? Try and bird dog for a retail buyer(dumb)I assume he wants to cash out so a L/O or subject to won't work right?
Have your title company do a title search and an O and E. This will answer all questions concerning ownership, liens, 2nds etc. etc.

Michael Mangham
Mentoring/Team Building Nationwide
MD Home Acquisitions LLC

You ever think about being a Coach for Dean? You're always loaded with pertinent information and ready, willing and able to help in any way you can.

Comps were tough to come by, it ended up being sq ft comps multiplied.

The house is a 5/3 at 2960 sqft, which is uncommon in our area, not to mention it's rural with a detached 2-car garage & shop sitting on 2 acres with a trout stream.

He states that only minor updating is necessary. With 3 dogs on the property, I don't know how much of that is true.

FMV suggests $294,449, which seems overly high to me.
Seller was asking $120,000 and I got him down to $72,500 with buyer pays closing costs. House is free and clear, they don't want any type of seller financing so they can use the money to move to Arizona this summer.

Exit strategy is to wholesale to cash buyer for $95,000-$110,000.

Parcel history shows he purchased it from HUD which explains why he's asking and accepted a rather low price. I should note that the offer is only verbal at the moment.

That's what I thought too, but I like to find ways to compromise if possible.
It may sound like a hassle but if I can pull this off it will be a nice chunk of change.

Thanks Curtis!

Hey Mark,
I'm not the suspicious type (but I am for sure the too nice mom type), so I would not run, not w/o scoping this for all ways to make a deal!

I'm with Michael, no appraisal, yes have title run a free profile (pre-lim title search), it won't catch everything, but close. You already looked into the ownership history-- good. You're doing photos / video, good. The explanation of low minimum price is good. I like Valerie's "walk-through with a handyman", but how about this?
1) Further verbal negotiations when you arrive for walk-thru (or now):
a) that ALL ROOMS, GARAGES, BASEMENT / ATTIC, AND OUT-BUILDINGS must be fully accessible and the dogs chained up (I've seen sellers nonchalantly say, "someone is sleeping", "it's a mess", or use the dog thing too many times, then you find a meth lab later (skeleton, whatever) ..)
b) that you want to help him out and respect his privacy, so maybe this would work: would it be possible to schedule one 60-90 minute tour with the final buyer line-up (get 1-6 buyers lined up for tour on a specific day-- no kids, no dogs....and go in with them all at once). See if you can get him to agree to that and take the best offer you get above your reserve.

2) Mark, here is what I would do regarding your initial tour: Again, I would not take an appraiser, I feel they really have no place in a deep discount property, but I would take a GC, better yet a Home Inspector who is also a General Contractor. You'll walk away with the photos, video and a home inspection. Although I normally do not condone spending your money, I would spend the $250 (that's my full inspection price with my guy, here) and it's about the price of the appraisal. Then you are set to scout your buyer prospects and do the one tour and get your offers-- all nice and tidy.

Keep us posted!

ooh, ooh, PS-- on what I call a "destination property", check the other applicable things like water rights, septic issues, and well water.... make sure your GC knows the property in case he wants to bring a specific sub with him. And, like Michael said, doing your homework on L/Op's for your prospective buyers sake, as it may not be a typical easy to rent property.

-Tina