Houses For Sale

Coindigger1960 · Dec 28, 2020

What is everyones ideas on hunting houses that are for sale by real estate firm? The reason im asking is the house that my husband was living in with his parents and family at the time we met is up for sale. No one is living in it at the present and the house is over a hundred years old. Do I contact the real estate agent and ask permission?

T-Man · Dec 28, 2020

I would think you would need permission from the actual owner, not the real estate company, with maybe the exception that the house is a foreclose and government/ bank owned but then it's getting into a gray area.

Tom_in_CA · Dec 28, 2020

T-Man said:
.... maybe the exception that the house is a foreclose and government/ bank owned but then it's getting into a gray area.

This was the subject of a long thread, back after the 2008 to 2009 real estate "melt down" . So many people found themselves backwards on their mortgage, that they walked away from the homes. Eg.: "handed in their house keys to the bank".

It took another couple of years for these legal matters to wind their way through the system. But by 2010 to 2012-ish, some cities in the USA (those areas hardest hit by the "market correction"), had scores of these boarded up homes. My city was one of them. And especially a few neighborhoods where you could literally drive down the block, and out of 20 houses on the block, 2 or 3 might be boarded up. Easy to tell d/t the lawns were overgrown, Windows boarded up, etc.... These were clearly a case of bank owned. Nameless faceless banks in some other state.

I knew a couple of guys in my town (it wasn't me !) who simply went yard to yard @ those type homes. No one ever bothered them :roll:

jruckman38 · Dec 29, 2020

Called 2 numbers one time off of signs both were flat out no. I moved on. You can try can’t hurt.

AirmetTango · Dec 30, 2020

When I first started detecting I scored a permission on a late 1800’s house by going through the realtor to find the owner (https://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?t=248460). As jtruckman said, it can’t hurt to ask - the worst they can say is “no”. In my case, the realtor was local, so I went to their office in person, which may make all the difference. I also live in small town mid-America where people tend to be friendlier. YMMV.

Looking back on that thread, I wish I knew then what I know now - the hunt didn’t turn up much, but I was new with a beginner machine. I hadn’t even found my first silver yet! I have no doubt there were goodies to be found there...maybe I need to approach the new owners

Bajanick · Dec 31, 2020

Coindigger1960 said:
What is everyones ideas on hunting houses that are for sale by real estate firm? The reason im asking is the house that my husband was living in with his parents and family at the time we met is up for sale. No one is living in it at the present and the house is over a hundred years old. Do I contact the real estate agent and ask permission?

Yes, ask permission. If the real estate agent gives permission then any blowback is on them.
I once got permission from a real estate agent after calling a phone number on a for sale sign, I called looking to contact the owner and after explaining why, the agent said sure, go ahead.

Unfortunately I found nothing of interest..... :roll:

kweis · Jan 1, 2021

I look for run down properties that are for sale. I'm in a some what unique position that a have commercial mowing equipment and can offer to mow the place for free for the permission. Have been taken up twice on that offer. One had some decent finds the other not much. On run down properties for sale they typically want to put 0$ into it until it's off loaded. They still have to maintain the outside some to keep the county off their back. Sometimes you need to think outside the box on this stuff. Otherwise getting permissions on these are as bad as LLC's.

ToySoldier · Jan 1, 2021

kweis said:
I look for run down properties that are for sale. I'm in a some what unique position that a have commercial mowing equipment and can offer to mow the place for free for the permission. Have been taken up twice on that offer. One had some decent finds the other not much. On run down properties for sale they typically want to put 0$ into it until it's off loaded. They still have to maintain the outside some to keep the county off their back. Sometimes you need to think outside the box on this stuff. Otherwise getting permissions on these are as bad as LLC's.

Good distinction. In an area where homes sell very fast there are lots of reasons for the owner/agent to not want somebody digging in the yard as potential buyers and buyer's agents drive or stop by. Or, the house is already under contract and the sellers are understandably nervous about granting permission. I've had that happen.

amc rulz · Jan 6, 2021

In the past, I have obtained permission from the realtor in charge of a foreclosed home.
They were really quite pleasant about it.

Diggin' It · Feb 13, 2021

I noticed some property for sale by the bank, right down the road from me. There is an old house, and shed, falling apart in the edge of the woods. I did the research, found the bank was in another close by town, called, and was told no way, because of liability.

Tom_in_CA · Feb 13, 2021

Diggin' It said:
... and was told no way, because of liability.

Then do you think my post #3, in this thread, could have been the "real world" outcome of such a place ?

And BTW, the "no because of liability" song and dance is just a nice way of saying "don't bother me". TRUST ME : They could CARE LESS about that. Because even if you volunteered to get a $1,000,000 liability insurance on yourself, guess what they would still say ? :roll:

So this is just nothing more than a polite way to say "no".

And in the same way you/we/I say "no" to phone solicitors, in the same way they're going to say "no" and hang up on you. Does it mean they would have ever cared or noticed or thought about it ? Probably not.

Houses For Sale

Coindigger1960

Full Member

T-Man

Elite Member

Tom_in_CA

Elite Member

jruckman38

Elite Member

AirmetTango

Bajanick

Elite Member

kweis

Elite Member

ToySoldier

amc rulz

Diggin' It

New Member

Tom_in_CA

Elite Member

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