1305 Iron Forge Road
March 15, 2010 to March 29, 2010
Initial contact with attorney Frank B. was made on Monday, March 15, 2010. Frank’s office was outside of Baltimore and the subject property was in District Heights Maryland. Needless to say Frank did not visit the subject property often. In fact, I doubt if he had visited the house at all. I would be his “eyes” on the property so to speak. Frank was OK with that too.
There were several things that had to be done to evaluate the profit potential of the property. All Frank had was the “assessment value” of the property. He understood that that was not a good indicator of the houses current market value. I emphasized that fact as well. Frank was OK with the value of the house, no matter what it was, as long as I had facts to prove my point.
He asked me if I wouldn’t mind going to court with him to show the judge on the case my paperwork. I told him of course not. So, I started to get all my paperwork together. I would need the following:
1. Current Comparable Market Analysis (CMA) showing recent settled sales and properties on the market now.
2. A tax record CMA, to show what properties with similar state tax assessments had sold for in the current market. (This was not something I normally did, but I thought it might be helpful)
3. Contractor’s estimate of cost of the repair work needed to make the property attractive to a “homeowner” buyer.
4. I needed a company to catalogue, remove, and auction the furniture and personal effects still in the house. These things were not real property and had to be sold to complete the estate.
5. Present a contract to the court based on our findings with enough profit to make all our work worthwhile.
With these five things done, I would feel comfortable with my advice on a reasonable sales price. Frank was in agreement with me and recommended in court papers that the property should sale for $98,000.
Once those things were done, we would wait for the judge to “sign-off” on the contract we presented.
March 29, 2010
March 15, 2010 to March 29, 2010
Participation-Training Fundamentals Session 101
Back Story – 1305 Iron Forge Road
I sent a “cold canvas” letter to my list of probate attorneys. Several days later I did a follow up call and got his secretary. She was polite and business professional. I set a “reminder” date to call back in my contact management software, Top Producer, and went about other business.
A week later I called his office in the early afternoon. His secretary put me through to Francis B. To my pleasant surprise, he was eager to talk to me and said so. “I’m so glad you called”, he said. He then explained the situation to me in detail and told me to call him Frank.
The property was in probate with no “heirs” appointed. He, Frank B, had been made the Personal Representative of the estate by the judge. He had say so over the sale of the house with some restrictions. The property was assessed at $280,000 but the mortgage on it was only approximately $20,000. Of course my antennae went up. The holder of the mortgage had not been paid and would soon be starting foreclosure proceedings I was told.
I told Frank I could find a ready, willing, and able buyer. He was glad to hear that. I told him I needed access to the house to determine its “marketability.” He authorized me to gain access and sent me a letter via email to state that.
I went to the property with an associate and had a locksmith change the locks. I took copious photos of the interior and exterior of the house.
The house was full of furnishings and was dated. The kitchen and baths were old and would need remodeling. There was also a water leak in the basement. I estimated the renovations to cost around $35,000. Of course this was based on my experience alone. I would need a contractor to give me precise numbers.