Sanity Check - Should I Pursue This?
My father died recently. Due to previous financial reverses, he and my mother were living in a rented house. It's a lot of rent. She has $25k in the bank, and is going to be looking for a new place to live.
I learned that next week, there will be a tax deed sale on a condo listed on the county's records as having a value of about $40k. Since Florida's value for tax purposes is supposedly 80% of FMV, the fair market value of the property is presumptively in the $50k range.
The owner has two mortgages on it, and it is also subject to an IRS tax lien covering this property and another that (I assume) is his personal residence. He is also behind on his monthly assessments, but not far behind because he was liened recently, and paid off the lien at the end of July 2003. There is no lien on it right now, but I'm informed that it is in collection at the attorney's office.
My source inside the managment company for the condo had this to say:
"(Condo Name Redacted) is not in the best of shape. They are wood frame
buildings built back in the 70's and need a lot of work. They have a
full-time General Contractor on staff that does nothing but the major
repairs to the buildings. They also have two full time maintenance
people on staff. I would not recommend a purchase in (condo name redacted) as their Board is polarized at this time and they really need to buckle down and
address some of their issues. They do the best they can, but its more
of a reactive approach than a proactive approach."
The last time somebody told me not to buy in a condo, it was my ex-wife (who was divorcing me at the time). Ignoring her advice I bought, moved in, and sold less than 2 years later for a 50%+ gain.
Assuming my mother is OK with this plan, does anyone have experience on what $$ IRS needs to release their 120 day redemption right? I can tell them the right story on why they should (no more value in it for them, after they pay me back plus 6% interest during the time I held), but is there some minimum $ figure for them?
My inside source also tells me that the association has a superpriority for its assessments, and although I haven't reviewed the docs myself, Florida *is* a Uniform Common Ownership Interest Act state to the extent that a superpriority was written into Florida Statutes in 1992 or so.
Bottom line, how does this situation strike people?
Bump.
Well, I found out the unit was upstairs, which my mother won't want.
Anyone want the details of this situation in return for giving me a piece of the action if you pick it up?
I went to the complex today just out of curiousity. As luck would have it, there was a community-wide garage sale in progress there, so the gate was unmanned.
This complex is just off a grand entrance to another development, which really highlights the complex's down-at-the-heels condition. Most of the buildings are 3 stories (though some are 2), and there is very little covered parking, although there are a relative handful of enclosed garages.
The internal road system is one-way, and access to the particular unit that's up for sale requires driving a long way once you go through the gate ... because it's near the exit gate. Some of the buildings have their siding off, and new felt is being put on. Others have a lot of rust on the staircase risers (presumably because the treads are rusting under the concrete). The concrete 2nd floor walkways feel uneven, and are spalling at the edges, with some exposed rusty rebar here and there.
So the unit that's up for sale is on the 2nd floor like we heard, and it faces out onto what would be a nice little concrete decorative stream and pond, except it's dry right now. Painted pale blue. And for some reason, the solution for keeping soil from getting into it while it's being worked on is shiny 8" galvanized sheetmetal trammels running along the edge of the concrete. Ugh.
As for the unit itself, occupancy was evident, though we didn't knock. What's odd though, is that the unit right downstairs was stripped to the studs (all the way in most places, from the mid-wall down in others--the bath or kitchen, I couldn't tell which, had no fixtures whatsoever) ... apparently they had started a remodeling job, cleaned up, bagged the ceiling fans ... and not gone any further for some reason. I hope the cause for their need to do that wasn't above them!
The owners owe about $800 to the association, which will have to be paid.
All in all, if I can steal it, and I mean STEAL it, I'd do it. But not for my dear mother--this doggie has lots of fleas.
In case anyone cares, it sold for $33.3k on Monday. But not to me.