Rental War Stories – Part 3: Who’s Living There?

Rental War Stories – Part 3: Who’s Living There?  Loretto Properties, LLC founder Lamar Hunt Jr. has seen all kinds of problems when buying homes and talking to other landlords.  He likes to pass these war stories on and this one is a doozy.  Recall in Part One of this story that a real estate investor received a call from an out-of-town woman who wanted to sell a house.  She had been paying property taxes for seven years yet had no idea who the tenant was.

In Part Two, the investor went out to the property, met the tenant and discovered he was paying rent to someone else, a woman down the street. Now, the investor had to put on his legal glasses.  He went to a title company and got a preliminary title report.  Sure enough, the only owner was the woman and her husband who lived out-of-town.  There was no other owner in the court records. So, the real estate investor then found the woman down the street and talked to her.  She said she had a deed and would get that to the investor but she never did.  The investor believed that seven years ago, she found the house vacant and simply took it over and started renting it to an unknowing tenant.  Making six to seven thousand dollars each year with no expenses is a great investment if you can get it.  The investor realized this property was going to be tricky so he offered the owners a much lower price than he would have otherwise. They accepted and closed the deal.  The investor now owned the property but his work was not done!

For the rest of the story, stay tuned.  And for more real estate tips on rental real estate property or other subjects, check back here often.  You can also call us at 913-236-2902 if you have a property to sell.