Several months ago, I was talking to an owner facing a foreclosure on his home that had considerable equity. He was hoping to refinance and get cash out. However, he was self-employed and could not substantiate any income, so refinance was just not possible.
Of course, my preference was to buy his house anyway, but he was determined to keep it. He needed just $6,423 to save his home. If you have spent much time dealing with people in foreclosure, you may have discovered that they are completely out of touch with reality. Often times they just stick their heads in the sand and hope and pray that the foreclosure will go away.
This owner told me about the 360 shares of stock he had in ATT–even showed me the stock certificates. These shares were worth about $60 per share, but he refused to cash them in to save his home. Then he told me about a 32-foot 1988 Southwind Recreational Vehicle he had been trying to sell for a year. He claimed it was worth $18,000.
I told him I may be interested in buying it after doing a little research and an inspection. The RV had not been driven for awhile, but looked to be in good condition and started up just fine. I called a few RV dealers and determined that I could quickly sell it for $9,000 to $14,000. (Why he didn’t call RV dealers, I’ll never understand.)
I offered to buy his RV for $6,423 and he accepted! The check was delivered to the Trustee Attorney just minutes before the foreclosure sale. And a week later, I sold the RV for $9,000. Get creative. If they won’t sell you the house, maybe they have something else of value they are willing to sell at a deep discount just to generate the cash to save their home.
I didn’t make much on this deal, but I helped the owner save his home, and making a little profit is better than nothing!