The first people I ever sold to asked if there was any way that I could get the adjacent parcel for them because they loved the location of the one they bought from me. I told them anything is possible.
Two days later after a fiverr worker skiptraced a list of owners I mailed offer letters to see if I could get a hit.
A guy called a week later and said he wanted to sell right away. There were back taxes and a lien. It was a parcel that his father had owned and it was transferred to him and three other relatives.
He told me that if I could get his cousin and siblings (in various parts of the country) to sign then they would accept my $300 offer for the 2.5 acre parcel. I asked if he had discussed selling and he said his two siblings wanted to be rid of the property but his second cousin did not even know that she was on the deed and that now she wanted to keep it.
I figured this would be a waste of time but I texted all the other parties to make sure they were on board. After a couple of weeks I gave up on it - just too much hassle.
I did consider for a moment that I could buy a lien certificate against it in case they did pay off the lien, but ultimate decided not too.
Several months later I thought of that lot again because I was mailing that area and I checked the tax account for that parcel and saw that they had paid off the lien.
“What a waste” I thought. “They are just going to keep paying taxes and never do anything with it”.
That was about 18 months ago. Last week I was working that area again and thought, “I wonder if they are keeping up with their tax payments on that lot”.
I checked the tax account and found that they are again delinquent and have a new lien.
I sent an offer to one of the owners (that I could get in touch with on the phone). I offered $1000. He texted me back today and said “We have all discussed your offer and have come to the conclusion that we simply want to be rid of this property and the liabilities. We appreciate your offer, but will transfer the deed to you for $0 if you can handle all of the closing costs and paperwork.”
A couple hours of follow-up paid off.
Just wondering though, since no one has ever countered with Zero dollars before, doesn’t there have to be at least $10 in consideration (AZ) for a Warranty Deed?