Hey all, I’m super new to land investing and have sent out 2 rounds of mailers with no deals yet. I was contacted by a seller because the property I mailed him about has a serious title issue and he was offering (im assuming for super cheap) to quit claim his half interest in the property. The issue is, no one has heard from the other party that has interest in the property in 20 years. Apparently, some sort of fraud took place between the missing party and the party that my seller bought the property from.
The property is an infil lot worth about 25-30k. I think I know the answer to this question, but should I walk because it would be too messy and expensive to solve through quiet title action? Or has someone experience something similar and maybe it’s not as bad as it seems? Thanks!
I’ve been in your shoes before. Title issues can be a real headache.
This one sounds pretty messy - half-interest owner missing for 20 years AND fraud involved? Yikes.
Quiet title actions aren’t cheap ($2K-5K) and can drag on forever. On a $25-30K lot, that’s a big chunk of your potential profit gone.
Honestly? As a newbie, you probably want cleaner deals to cut your teeth on. I made this mistake early on and spent way too much time and money chasing a “bargain” that wasn’t.
If you’re still tempted to chase this one down, get a title pro to look it over, crunch your numbers with ALL the legal fees, and ask yourself if your time is better spent sending more mailers for clean deals.
Sometimes the best deals are the ones you walk away from! There’s always another property.
What kind of properties are you targeting in your mailers? How many have you sent out so far?
Matt, thanks for the great advice! I am leaning towards walking away, I just wanted to throw it out there and see if I was overlooking something.
I am targeting smaller Infil lots in subdivisions that with my untrained eye seem to be pretty hot markets. I’ve only sent about 750 mailers with range offers. My lists are very targeted/scrubbed. I only send to properties I’m 90% I would be interested in, and that are in subdivisions I can tell are moving in regards to time on the market and recently sold to on market ratio.
Matt - I have experience in working with cases like the one you described and would be glad see if it is one I think is “curable”. I would need to be working directly with the seller to navigate the complexities that are normally encountered. If I take it on, I would do a profit split with you. If you want to discuss this with me, DM me through RET or email me at gary@lawmanpartners.com. I can provide references from our land community.
Hi JP. These “messy title” deals are not uncommon. I know how to handle ~90% off them. The key is “is the juice worth the squeeze” (profit) because they can be time-consuming. Email me if you’d like to chat: rosswilliams7@gmail.com