Can one employ a real estate agent to enquire about the availability of a vacant property that isn’t listed for sale?
If so, is there a term for it?
Will the agent want a fee or settle for her regular percentage of the possible sale?
Thanks.
why not call a local office and ask them? I am sure anything is possible.
Almost certainly.
But you can also learn a great deal on your own, for a modest investment of time and very little money. Head to the Registry of Deeds (typically located in the town that serves as the County Seat). There you can determine such things as:
- Who owns the property
- When they bought it
- What they paid
- The bounds of the property
- Any applicable liens, mortgages, rights-of-way, etc.
- What the taxes are
- Whether any back taxes are owed
Doing this “homework” first can be extremely helpful in determining whether you actually want to buy a property, and what you should be willing to pay.
I think a lot of this can be done online. I know in Florida, I can look up the local stuff, I can move a cursor over the property on a map / photo image, and it tells me who owns it, a address for them, size and how much the tax is. You can also get a photo of the property, with gps boundries superimposed on it, for a couple of dollars. I did one for my property in Michigan, and it is right on my survey pins.
A real estate agent can help you, but it’s a long shot. Not because they don’t know how, or can’t figure out how to get it done, but because agents are generally paid by the Seller, and they won’t work for free.
If its vacant, check with your county assessor website. You can usually find the owners name - do you know why it’s vacant? If its a foreclosure, and it’s in the owners name, you have a long, long time to wait, as the house is foreclosed on, court proceedings proceed, etc. This can take years. If its in a bank’s name, then you’re closer to it being listed on the market, but depending on the condition, it still may take a year to reach the market.
If the owner is still on the title, google around and see if you can find contact info for them, and ask them to sell it to you. However, be aware that it’s most likely underwater, and you’ll have to pay usually far more than the market value. If it’s a bank, you can try to call the bank, find the name of the attorney handing the foreclosure (if your county has online dockets, you can possibly find the attorney name and contact them directly - search by the owners’ name if you have it) and call them. But, good luck, as I have never heard of a bank who wants to sell to a person directly, before having it listed with a realtor, and the waiting that entails. Then, there are also issues of title trouble, insurance, taxes, etc.
I am an agent, with a background as a bankruptcy paralegal, and I get these calls often. You can imagine why I don’t do much for this type of prospect - it’s a tremendous amount of work, and the chances of me ever seeing dime one are basically zero. Sorry.
A bank or local authority will never sell directly to an individual because that would be open to accusations of improper trading. They will be required to offer it on the open market to be sure of getting the proper market value. I imagine that this applies in most countries with robust laws on financial matters.
In the UK, it has been known for people to apply for planning approval to build on someones land without them being aware of it. Anyone who has a house with a large garden needs to be aware of this. A prospective buyer with outline planning permission for a second house at the bottom of the garden would be able to make a generous offer and still make a large profit.