A question for the Real Estate peeps

[wsuwrhr]

...or anyone else who has ideas.
I have always recieved good advise in the past here, so I thought I would try again.
One of my neighbors recently went into a assisted living home. Real good guy in his early 80's, lived in SB since the 70's.
I get along real good with him, I used to anyways, he even helped in my shop a couple times. It was real sad to see him go downhill.
I have been down to the home to see him once a week or so. Lately he doesn't even recognize me until I tell him who I am sometimes.
He keeps telling me to buy his house. He owns it, but he has a reverse mortgage for about 60,000. I have all the paperwork, the deed, including the original mortgage that is paid off, and the reverse mortgage.
I want to do it, but the problem I see, and have always worried about, is his mental state. I am guessing the reverse mortgage would just want their money back.
Homes in my neighborhood are going for 350-400,000, cheap jing for most of you folk, but still some room to make some money by fixing it up and selling it, or maybe rent it out. I am sure in this market, renting isn't a good idea, but the asset might be a good thing down the road.
Brian

[Family Jewell]

...or anyone else who has ideas.
I have always recieved good advise in the past here, so I thought I would try again.
One of my neighbors recently went into a assisted living home. Real good guy in his early 80's, lived in SB since the 70's.
I get along real good with him, I used to anyways, he even helped in my shop a couple times. It was real sad to see him go downhill.
I have been down to the home to see him once a week or so. Lately he doesn't even recognize me until I tell him who I am sometimes.
He keeps telling me to buy his house. He owns it, but he has a reverse mortgage for about 60,000. I have all the paperwork, the deed, including the original mortgage that is paid off, and the reverse mortgage.
I want to do it, but the problem I see, and have always worried about, is his mental state. I am guessing the reverse mortgage would just want their money back.
Homes in my neighborhood are going for 350-400,000, cheap jing for most of you folk, but still some room to make some money by fixing it up and selling it, or maybe rent it out. I am sure in this market, renting isn't a good idea, but the asset might be a good thing down the road.
Brian
Real estate is a good investment but in this situation be careful. Does this gentelmen have any family? Is there a will or living trust? Have you looked at all of the documents regarding the reverse mortgage? What I am referring to are the pay off requirments and fee's . If not call the mortgage company and get the information first hand.You are correct for being cautious. I am glad to hear you are visiting him . One other thing you might consider is talk to an attorney because of the gentelmens mental state . Hopefully you already know an attorney or if you don't try and get a recomendation for one or try on the board I think there are a few that might give some advise.

[wsuwrhr]

Real estate is a good investment but in this situation be careful. Does this gentelmen have any family? Is there a will or living trust? Have you looked at all of the documents regarding the reverse mortgage? What I am referring to are the pay off requirments and fee's . If not call the mortgage company and get the information first hand.You are correct for being cautious. I am glad to hear you are visiting him . One other thing you might consider is talk to an attorney because of the gentelmens mental state . Hopefully you already know an attorney or if you don't try and get a recomendation for one or try on the board I think there are a few that might give some advise.
He has no family. No will, no living trust.
Brian

[572Daytona]

In order for a real estate contract to be valid, all parties must have the mental capacity to understand the nature and consequences of of their actions which sounds like it may not be the case here. This could make the contact voidable, but if no one challenges it (which sounds unlikely since he has no family) within a reasonable amount of time, you shouldn't have any issues with clear title. If you are serious, I would suggest hiring a real estate attorney to have them run the title and advise on this issue, better the property ending up in your hands than going to the state.

[wsuwrhr]

bumpety bump

[Mandelon]

This is more serious than our abilities here. You should contact a real estate / trust attorney immediately. Make sure its done right.
Obviously if there is no heirs, you will get a deal and that's better than letting it escheat to the state or getting sold in a probate sale. Maybe you are the only guy he knows....and he wants you to buy it....heck, offer him payments.
On the other hand, California does need the money.....

[YeLLowBoaT]

Go talk to a lawyer....
Since its going to be done anyways... I would go to a title company and the country recordors see if there are any liens( that you don't know about) and get a record of all permits that have been pulled. You never know what could turn up.

[phebus]

Depending on his mental state, I would talk him into paying you to take it :)

[ROZ]

Depending on his mental state, I would talk him into paying you to take it :)
You are the smartest man I know :)

[Moneypitt]

Key words. Even if he has no family or will, the reverse mortage people have 1st claim on the property, period. Thats the way they do business, pay off the owner a little at a time while they're alive, and take over the property when the owner passes away. His loss of mental capasity in the present probably prevents him from "changing" his mind at this stage of the game. An attorney is the way to go, but the owners condition will be the deciding factor if/when a judge looks at the case. Also the "reverse" people probably sewed this deal up really tight, afterall, its what they do.............MP

[C-2]

If he’s already in assisted care living, then there’s a very good chance he’s already been evaluated, and most likely, the care facility has power of attorney over him and his estate. While he might say “buy his house” – there could already be a firewall of legal docs preventing him from making such a decision.
Who helped him get into assisted? Who set up the arrangements? You sure there wasn’t somebody else? He might say no, but the reality is there is almost always somebody else. And whoever set him up most likely already has plans for his estate. If it’s a public social worker, hospital social worker, or public guardian, then there would have to be an extraordinary set of circumstances to allow him to sell his house. Similarly, if it’s a social worker from the care facility, or care facility directly, then you better believe they are thinking the same thing as you, except with their best interest in mind.
Since he’s already in a care facility, no matter what happens and how good of friends you are/were with the guy – others will always view your good fortune as suspect.
The SOB in this whole deal will be the care facility. People with no relatives or heirs are their bread and butter. Sure, there might be laws which prevent taking advantage of elderly patients – but in litigation, it’s usually the person with the deepest pockets who wins. Another analogy is – you think they would allow a patient to become destitute? Would they allow a patient to sell his largest asset, the one which pays for his care? There has to be other safeguards in place ~ and you need to find out what they are.
Get friendly with the staff and test the waters, then you’ll know what you’re dealing with. You might also post another topic under assisted care experiences. Undoubtedly somebody from this board has been down this road.

[wsuwrhr]

I knew I had to see an attorney at some point.
I was just looking for experiences of the ***boat crowd, maybe I could gain a little insight, maybe what to expect and what questions to ask before I started down the road.
The home care I figured would be the biggest problem, I figured they were in the business of gathering up the people's assets.
He asked to be put into a home, he knew he was having problems.
The neighbors researched facilities and took him down to the home, they have known each other for awhile. There are (were) three sets of widowers right at the end of my street, the women are original owners. As far as I know, he signed himself in, at the time he wasn't near as bad as he is.
I have known him since I have been here and I am pretty tight with everyone.
Brian

[wsuwrhr]

ttt

[C-2]

Please understand I’m not trying to be a pessimist and hope your friends wishes are able to be fulfilled. :) My input and opinions are not uninformed. From time to time I work with the Shriners Hospital, who are often named as beneficiaries to entire estates. I have worked numerous cases over the years and as I mentioned before, your situation will set off every bell, whistle and red flag known, so you have to be ready for that. Again, while this guy may want you to have his estate ~ it doesn’t sound like he set himself up for it, but you never know. That is the key ~ determining how he set himself up (again realizing assisted care is gonna make sure they have a reliable income stream).
Speak with the other neighbors, find out of there are any claimants from the deceased wife’s side of the family. The last thing you want to do is buy his house; sell it, and then have a distant family member come knocking. The fact you or the neighbors have no knowledge of persons like this does not extinguish their claims.
Do your own research before you hire an attorney. Otherwise, he’ll be making the same calls you can make, except on your dime. Your attorney will not have any legal standing to demand anything, and could prompt the care facility to contact the public guardian, or engage an attorney to protect your friend’s best interest.
And of course any attorney will accept your case and take your money, irrespective of whether or not they accomplish what you are trying to get done. Bastards :mad:
Good luck on it :)