Hi all!
Can anyone advise how best to identify and contact the owner of a property so that I can make an offer?
I live in Adelaide and on my street there is a house that looks deserted- 3 cars with grass grown through the doors, weeds waist deep, overflowing mailbox with letters strewn on the footpath and no sign of life when I have knocked on the door. Interestingly though, they manage to have bins on the footpath for council collection each week!
What method should I employ to find out the owner of this house to make them an offer? Has anyone had similar experiences?
The easy one is to ask a REA. They have access to council databases listing the owners.
Doing this you obviously have to pay their fee and also may be ask to pay a higher price.
If they get the bin out every week, I would suggest that you either try to be around when the bin goes out, or I stick a letter on top of the bin.
I would even consider to make a formal offer on the property (just make sure that you have a get out clause in (eg building inspection) and an end to the offer.
The advantage is that you are most likely to get a reaction. The disadvantage is that the first to name a price usually loses.
I enquired at the local council about a vacant block near us a few years ago (I wanted to offer to buy like you).
The council said they couldn’t give out the owner’s details, but would contact the owner on my behalf.
They did so, and the owner contacted me by phone a few weeks later.
If you get no response from the letter on the bin (or door) you could try this method.Cheers,
Marc.
[email protected]“we get sent lemons; it’s up to us to make lemonade”
Slide letter under door.
If all else fails, why not do a property search yourself through RP data or ABR?
A street address search plus a title search should cost under $100.AmandaBS
http://www.propertydivas.com.au
FREE online Property Resources“It is better to be inconspicuously wealthy, than to be ostentatiously poor…”
If sliding a letter under their door doestn’t work, try a CITEC search. You can visit http://www.confirm.citec.com.au and do an address search to get lot and plan details, and then use these to get a title search. If you don’t like using your credit card on the internet, there are companies that perform these searches, or just contact your solicitor.
Regards,
[cigar]
Hi there,
As an ex real estate agent I was expert at this kind of stuff. It sounds like it is a deceased estate or an ex rental that is waiting for some kind of work to be done. As mentioned on another post RP data is good, but just an old fashioned knock on the next door neighbours door is a good place to start and costs you nothing. Most people like a good gossip and will be more than happy to help you out. They should at least be able to tell you when they see the owner there most often. Good luck!
Hi 618,
I live in Adelaide & had been trying to look for people who invest in property to have informal discussions.I bought a few houses from 1999 & am currently involved in a couple of sub-divisions. If I’d known how hard it’d be, I’d probably not have started.
If you’re interested in talking to me, please send me an e-mail
Good luck,
Kum Yin
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