What should I do with this empty house?

Factual Questions
1

I’ve just been offered a house for a piddling sum; the price is low enough that I can easily pay cash for it. It’s cheap because it’s been uninhabited and boarded up for about five years, is run down, and is in a less than desirable neighborhood (it’s on E 143rd in Cleveland if that helps paint the picture). It’s basically a crackhouse waiting to happen.

Why, you may ask, would I be interested in such a house? My immigrant great-grandfather built it in 1923 with his own hands. He raised ten kids in it. It has a bakery attached to the back with a brick oven he also built. It formerly had a gas station and a macaroni factory on either side (all family businesses) but the macaroni factory has been razed and the gas station is now a church (!) It’s been in the family all these years, but the current owner, my cousin, has been out of the bakery business for a couple of years and has had trouble renting the house.

If I bought the house and was never able to do anything with it (I don’t intend to live in it), I guess that would be OK; mainly, I just want to keep it in the family. But…here’s my plan. I want to rent it to a nonprofit organization or a charity for $1. That way, someone is in the house, decreasing the chance of some random a–hole setting it on fire, plus, I get to write off the fair market value as a donation. (It’s hard for me to keep an eye on it because I live 3000 miles from Cleveland, although I have plenty of family in the area who would help me manage it.)

What do you think? Am I insane? Do you know any Cleveland charities short on office space? Again, if it doesn’t work out, that’s OK. To me, it’s worth the $ just to keep it in the family. But I’d like to do something useful with it.

2

My thinking, when it comes to matters like this, is that anything that’s worth anything will sell for anything.

That is, if the people that are selling this home thought they could get a better price than what they selling it for now, they’d go for it. But, they won’t. And they won’t for the reasons that you state.

While this may hold some serious sentimental value to you and your family, the bottom line- in terms of the all mighty checkbook- is that you’ll more than likely pay through the nose once you own it, regardless of what you do with it.

Unless you have cash to burn, and would like to flush it down the tubes with this investment, I’d avoid it.

Then again, sentimental value is as subjective as all get out- common sense is non-transferable.

Me? As cool as my family is, they’ve still given me countless headaches that just never seem to go away- I really don’t need to volunteer for another one.

Don’t do it.

3

I would if I had the same chance. I hope someone else can help on a tenant.
[ul][list][list][list]Good luck to ya![list]:cool:[/ul]

4

Like I said, I’m not doing it as an investment. I really don’t care if I never make a dime off it, so the worst that could happen is that it just sits there and I pay the insurance and property tax every year. But your comments make me think that you know of a scenario in which I might have to pay more than that - that’s the sort of thing I am concerned about. Can anyone be more specific?

5

You know what, City Gent? About the only thing I know for certain about this question is this- This doesn’t belong it in General Questions… it’s an In My Humble Opinion question.

<Tee hee>

Alright. What I somewhat know about the things you might encounter are the things I’ve seen my friends and family encounter, which is, ungodly expenses on things they never imagined.

Anything under the sun that you can think of, and more importantly, not think of, are going to rear their ugly heads upon you.

Anything, and everything (If about ten to fifteen of my friends are any indication to you of what happens in situations like this).

I mean, I envision you having to pay, and pay big, to have someone use your space simply as charity outreach deally.

Why?

Because people relate horror stories to me of how they’ve been offered this ‘deal’: a ‘deal’ that’s just too good to pass up, and have them blow up in their face. And yes, I’m talking about property- err, unkempt property that they’ve ended up acquiring because it, “Seemed cool at the time”.

I too hope others come in here and offer some examples. Because until tomorrow- when I’m heading over to a friends house to help him figure out what’s up with the basement in the house that he just bought (There’s voids that can’t be explained and I’m suppose to pinpoint them (Ha!)) I can’t offer anything that’s specifically happened to me.

Like I said. I tend to bow out of ‘deals’ like these.

I’ll ask him, considering this just happened to him and he’s closer to the state that you’re in know, and tell you what he says.

I mean, it sounds noble… but noble stuff always seems to cost more than you think.

6

Ahh, just a little disclaimer here…

I’ve been heeding news reports tonight that encourage drinking copious amounts of fluids tonight because of the current heat wave gripping our fine city.

The only problem is, I think they don’t meant to include beer in their statement.

Oh well. That’s what I’m 'a choosin.

Any rate, the statements I make above I stand by one-hundred percent… I just do know if I stand by the flamboyant nature in which I brought them up to you tonight, tomorrow morning.

You know what? I’ll fill you in on that tomorrow too!

7

I’m probably gonna disagree here a bit with most of the advice that you have heard here so far. Grant you, and know, I’m a bit toast here.

I LOVE deals like this! No money down, no bad tenants. Probably really run down property. It’s opportunity waiting to happen.

The drawback, it’s 300 miles away.

You cannot manage property properly unless you are within a couple hours away.

The answer, Professional Property Manager. Lives nearby, deals with the mundane at a reasonable cost.

Look for someone with a track record of years, local and check the references they give you.

In my humble opinion, do not ask or trust nearby family, family friends, uncles or anyone else you know to perform this service for you.

I don’t have specific knowledge of the area to which you refer, call professionals, local property managers to get an idea what you may have to put into the property to make it livable.

Obviously, I have NO idea what your bank book looks like, but I can tell you that almost universally, rental property will make your bottom line better–If it is properly managed. Take the word of your checked out manager and your tax advisor…It is tough to go wrong, with proper management and perhaps a bit of juice or money to add to improvements.

If this thread lives, I’ll be back with hopefully good advice, just want you to know…Snatch it. Great deal!

8

City Gent writes:

> It’s hard for me to keep an eye on it because I live 3000
> miles from Cleveland, although I have plenty of family in
> the area who would help me manage it.)

You live in the Pacific Ocean?

Yeah, O.K., this is a stupid nitpick, but Cleveland is only about 2100 miles from Fremont, California.

9

If you can afford it, I say buy it just for sentimental reasons…in a neighborhood like that, the taxes can’t be that high.

Have you approached the church next door to see if they could use the house for anything? That might be a place to start…

10

Touche. Although when I drove out here it seemed like 2100 light years.

Hey Carina, good idea!. In fact, I heard secondhand that the pastor of the church next door was interested in making an offer on it, so it seems like if I offered it to him for free, he’d bite. Only problem is, I would sooner drag my butt on a gravel road from a moving car and then sit in bowl of rubbing alcohol than financially support the Christian religion. But I guess one has to be flexible.

bare, thanks for the suggestion on hiring a manager. I wondered if such people existed and apparently they do.

11

Ok quick question for you City Gent, How much will it cost you to repair it?

When you lease it for a dollar, would you stipulate they handle any and all repairs?

How far can they go towards improving it if you let them? tear down walls?

Sounds like a great deal, I would love to have my great grand fathers farm in Grand Rapids… to bad tey built a strip mall and a Subway on it.
Still a piece of history that belongs to you and your family is priceless.

Good idea to get any heads up from your fellow dopers no reason to jump inot anything blind.

Osip