I still need to approach the owners and get a sense for their interest in selling the property. I'm not in a position of strength since I will be asking them. I talked to my insurance agent and my homeowners policy will cover any liability issue with the property like a falling tree, etc.

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Tony H
W111 280SE 3.5 Coupe
Manual transmission

Past cars:
Porsche 914 2.0
'64 Jaguar XKE Roadster
'57 Oval Window VW
'71 Toyota Hilux Pickup Truck-Dad bought new
'73 Toyota Celica GT

I agree, and have said that is a great occupation. At the sale the seller is happy to sell, the buyer is happy to buy, and the realtor gets what around 4% for doing little work. Even more so now with pre approved loans to a certain amount of money. No more toting people around showing them 300K houses that are behind on their $600/mo rent.

Contacted owner and am in negotiation. He is an investor that bought during the housing boom and overpaid-waiting for value to recover. Hopefully he's done waiting.

__________________
Tony H
W111 280SE 3.5 Coupe
Manual transmission

Past cars:
Porsche 914 2.0
'64 Jaguar XKE Roadster
'57 Oval Window VW
'71 Toyota Hilux Pickup Truck-Dad bought new
'73 Toyota Celica GT

Opened escrow today. So far the process has been easier than I expected. If it were a residence or there was financing involved it would be more complicated. The owner was 2 weeks away from listing the property when I contacted him. He bought the property in 2006 and is loosing some money. It's a tough bullet to bite but I guess one needs to move on. He has been paying prop taxes and landscaping all these years.

__________________
Tony H
W111 280SE 3.5 Coupe
Manual transmission

Past cars:
Porsche 914 2.0
'64 Jaguar XKE Roadster
'57 Oval Window VW
'71 Toyota Hilux Pickup Truck-Dad bought new
'73 Toyota Celica GT

It appears there is a lesson in all of this. Real estate investing involves RISK. There is no getting out of it. That said, investing in land, houses or commercial buildings is not a bad place to park your money.

It's a very strange environment. I had to meet the person from the title company in my parking space on the street with papers on the hood of my truck. They said they are so busy closing is taking twice as long.

__________________
Tony H
W111 280SE 3.5 Coupe
Manual transmission

Past cars:
Porsche 914 2.0
'64 Jaguar XKE Roadster
'57 Oval Window VW
'71 Toyota Hilux Pickup Truck-Dad bought new
'73 Toyota Celica GT

Friend of mine is a real estate attorney who charges $500 for title search and closing. He's been doing it a long time and has ownership history almost memorized. He also sells the title insurance and probably make more off the insurance than the closing fees. I remember that the title insurance doesn't cover any liens that are placed after the search and before the closing. It's rare but someone could slide a lien in and the buyer would be screwed. A realtor wouldn't help in that case.

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85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.

Closed escrow yesterday. Pretty painless except the sellers were having trouble with the electronic documents but I held their hand through it. Also going into the bank for the wire transfer was a bit of a pain due to CV. Now I have to decide if I want to buy a riding mower vs paying $50 to have it mowed.

__________________
Tony H
W111 280SE 3.5 Coupe
Manual transmission

Past cars:
Porsche 914 2.0
'64 Jaguar XKE Roadster
'57 Oval Window VW
'71 Toyota Hilux Pickup Truck-Dad bought new
'73 Toyota Celica GT

No contest. Buy the mower!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5q9J5U5RjU

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“Whatever story you're telling, it will be more interesting if, at the end you add, "and then everything burst into flames.”
― Brian P. Cleary, You Oughta Know By Now