[bennybenfari]

My wife and I live two doors down from a home built in the exact proportion and size as our current home. The owner passed away over a year ago, and since then the property has gone from bad (even in life the owner did not maintain his property) to worse. After looking at the house and its abysmal state, we are seriously considering, if possible, assuming ownership of the home, completely renovating it from the inside out and living in it ourselves. We did research looking into available records about the property pertaining to the current value of the property, any outstanding debts on the property, liens, etc. All we can see is that there is a reasonable back property tax of almost $5,000.00 overdue. Aside from that, we are unable to find any information as to what steps to take over the property and become the legal owners. The home needs is in a seriously deteriorating state. The house needs to be gutted and the frame completely stripped so the we could make it both safe and livable. From what we could see, there is massive water damage to the interior and terrible damage to the exterior (raccoons). There is already a violation against the home for failure to maintain the exterior. How can no one realize that the house is completely abandoned, yet file a violation??

Questions?

1) Abandoned home located in Queens, NY.
2) Accessed value as of 1/2008 is $19,657.
3) Is it possible for us to own the home?
4) If so, what should be our first legal step.

[excon]

Hello benny:

The only thing I can tell you for sure, is that the property is not UN-owned. Somebody owns it. You need to track them down. If he had no will and no relatives, then the state might own it. I don't know how you're going to do it, but once you find them, make them an offer.

You might have to go to the probate court and look at the file. You might have to hire a private eye. You might have to hire a title company. I don't know. If there's a bargain to be had, it's not just sitting there for anybody who comes along. If that was the case, it would have been sold long ago. It's going to take some work.

excon

[ScottGem]

If the property has truly been abandoned, then it will eventually be auctioned off at a tax sale. Once that happens, you will probably be outbid by speculators. Until then, you need to do as excon said and try to find who inherited the property.

[bennybenfari]

What about squatters rights? If the house is up for sale in two years as a tax lien sales can we move in under squatters rights?